Angel in the Dark
by India2
Summary: Aeris is back, but with her come some other strange events. Cloud starts experiencing some familiar symptoms, but this time it's bad. Sephiroth is moving his way into the real world and is feeding off our heroic couple... Cloud/Aeris fic!!!! Now complete!
1. Prologue

Angel in the Dark By: India  
  
Hey, everybody! This is my very first fanfic, so please bear with me. I hope to not make it too slow or whatever, but uh, don't get too mad if it sucks. Also, please, please, please R & R!!  
  
Prologue  
  
Alone. Lonely. Solitary.  
  
These words all have a similar meaning and can be used very strongly in the right context. They all bring images of sorrow to mind, of darkness, of endless labyrinths. They all describe the feelings of many. They all describe the feelings of me.  
  
I feel alone. I feel lonely. I feel solitary.  
  
People surround me. Some of them are crying. All of them wear dark expressions on their normally contrasting faces. Now they are but a smear of the same emotion. Why are they sad? They don't know the half of it. But I hardly see them anyway.  
  
I hate being alone. I hate being lonely. I hate being solitary.  
  
I feel it all flowing from me. I lie. I'm in pain. But I am hardly thinking of it. I think of her and only her: her smile, her charm, her beauty. I need her so badly. That's why I lie. That's why I pray. That's why I'll tell you my story, the story of a weak man who needed his girl more than a breath of air.  
  
I am alone. I am lonely. I am solitary.  
  
I am nothing. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
Okay, so the prologue was short, I know. but there's more to come. And thank you to the very kind people who reviewed it! I really appreciate you taking the time!!  
  
I stood leaning against the railing on the deck of the Highwind. It was only hours after we had presumably ended it all and we were still taking a leisure ride. I was thinking only of the promises I had broken and the dreams I had shattered.  
  
I thought also of the last words of a fallen saint: "I'll come back when it's all over." I didn't even think that I deserved to be alive, because even she had been deceived by me idiocy into thinking it wasn't the end. Behind me, I heard footsteps followed by a familiar voice.  
  
"Cloud.?" came the woman's voice, "What are you doing all alone out here."  
  
"I wanna be here," I replied abruptly.  
  
"Come inside, won't you?" she asked, "You should at least make an appearance."  
  
I turned around and looked at the woman with the long black hair and brown eyes. "I don't feel like it."  
  
She looked a little annoyed. "Alright. We're in there if you wanna come any time." She started walking back to the door, but then stopped and turned back to me. "You gotta let go, already." She went inside.  
  
Her words pierced my ears, only because she didn't seem to understand how difficult it is to just "let go." I understood her logic but not how her advice was to be executed. I turned back to the passing scenery and went back to my thinking.  
  
We were so high up and could see so much. She would have loved it, I bet. Another promise I had broken was for her to see all this. But I never expected things to happen like they did.  
  
Suddenly a strange feeling came over me. Even though I wasn't even thinking about, I suddenly felt a small piece of black, eerie will telling me to go inside and see everyone. It started out small, as a stroke of darkness. I quickly dismissed it, now knowing that its persistent nature would cause it to return. And so it did, each time getting stronger and stronger and each time making me hate it more and more. What was going on?  
  
I walked into the area where the members of AVALANCHE stood talking and drinking, enjoying themselves, without a clue about what was happening. My stride was different, and the muscles in my face seemed more relaxed, yet all my muscles seemed to have intent in their movement. I let myself do whatever it was that was happening and just watch from the inside, helpless but curious.  
  
Everyone turned around to look at me. They all looked puzzled as to why my expression was so strange and vague. The red lion stepped forward.  
  
"Have you decided to join us, Cloud?" he asked politely.  
  
Words suddenly came spilling out of my mouth, away from my control. They were not my own, though I could even feel my lips move. It was all so real.  
  
"No," I answered sternly and coldly, "I'm here to tell you that the girl is to be back. Go back to the Northern Crater and quit this joy ride and you will find her. Don't keep her waiting."  
  
I fell then, my whole body shattering into the darkness. I was nothing now, nothing but a puppet again.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
I woke up to find people looking at me quizzically, watching for any sign. And a sign I gave them.  
  
"What the hell happened?" I moaned.  
  
"Thank goodness you're alright!" Tifa sighed with relief, "You. you went all funny and said that some girl was back in the Northern Crater and then you passed out."  
  
"The hell did you do?!" yelled Barret, "You got into Cid's stash, didn't you?"  
  
Cid wasn't there to defend himself. I sat up with a bit of Vincent's help.  
  
"I dunno," I said, forgetting their words quickly and concentrating on my main concern, "We gotta go to the Northern Crater."  
  
"We're already on the way," told Red.  
  
I stood up with a concerned look on my face. "What do you suppose I meant by 'the girl?'" I asked the others, even though we all already knew.  
  
"Aeris, of course," replied Cait Sith, "The only problem now is knowing whether the thing that came all over you was telling the truth or not. What do you think it was, Cloud?"  
  
"I, I don't know," I said, "But the one who I suppose it is. I just pray it's not him."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
We arrived at the Northern Crater in about an hour and even though it was almost all caved in, I was able to walk deeper into the great cavity, leaving the others near the airship. As I walked deeper and deeper into the cave, I felt very close to something important.  
  
And then I noticed something that brightened the dark cave. a piece of Lifestream had encircled its way around my foot. Soon, I saw more and more pieces of the glowing substance leading a trail further into the crater. I followed the highlighted path to find something even more incredible. Hundreds of strands of Lifestream were all dancing, spiraling upwards until they reached the end of their ballade, upon which they began spiraling downwards. It was beautiful. The Lifestream had always enchanted me and this was a masterpiece of its, boasting it's glory.  
  
And then, something even more wonderful, by a million times, happened. The strings of dancing Lifestream suddenly exploded to a spectacular display, similar to fireworks. I watched in awe as the Lifestream started to fade away after its explosion, leaving behind a girl lying motionless on the ground.  
  
I ran over and knelt down beside the figure. It was her! Good heavens, it was her!! I scooped her up into my arms and held her close and carefully, like a newborn baby. A thick layer of Mako clothed her entire nude body, making her sticky to touch, but I didn't care. I couldn't care less, in fact! The only movement coming from her was the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in life anew.  
  
"Aeris?" I let out with tears forming in my eyes, "Please, please, tell me it's you."  
  
She looked weak, but for my sake she managed a smile, then raised her hand to gently touch my cheek. It was for real! It was all for real!  
  
"Don't ever leave me again, you hear?" I said with a warm smile, the first since she had left me.  
  
She chuckled softly and then, with the little energy she had, spoke, "I'm not going to leave." Her voice was like a beautiful melody, forgotten over time, but when heard again, was the most precious thing to the ear.  
  
I suppose the others had heard all the commotion, since all of AVANLANCHE came running down to meet us, or more specifically, to meet Aeris.  
  
"AERIS!!" Yuffie cried as she arrived, running over to give her a hug.  
  
"No, no, Yuffie!" I told her, "She's very weak."  
  
"Great balls of fire!" said Cid, scratching his head, "What happened?"  
  
"I'll tell you later," I said, "But right now we gotta get Aeris back to the ship. She's about to pass out."  
  
They all nodded with big grins on their faces, happy that the world's favorite girl was back.. though none of us could believe it. There was, however, one person who wore no smile or other sign of happiness: Tifa. Why she was acting so cold and quiet was beyond me, so I decided to say nothing.  
  
As we walked out of the crater, me with a sleeping princess in my arms, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the mystical Lifestream prancing about below, but dismissed the thought as I continued walking on. 


	3. Chapter 2

Wooh! One chapter's out of the way. I hope y'all liked it. Here goes the next one.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Aboard the airship, I found myself again on deck, watching the sky pass by over the railing. But this time, my thoughts were not dark and negative as before, but joyful and pleasant. Aeris was inside sleeping on a heap of blankets in the Meeting Room. Yuffie had leant her some clothes to wear, until she would be able to get her own. Our next destination was Costa del Sol, where Aeris and I would be dropped off and where she could stay for as long as she wanted to.  
  
The trip was long, but my heart was light. I decided to go inside to check on my angel. When I entered, she was just barely awake, but she was still looking glorious.  
  
"Hey, how are you?" I said as I sat down beside her.  
  
"Mmm," she said, "I couldn't be better!!"  
  
She looked so tired, but somehow still so vibrant. I looked at her lovingly. "Sleepy?"  
  
"Maybe a little," she replied, "But that doesn't matter. But tell me Cloud. how did you know to find me."  
  
I suddenly remembered how that had happened, and even though at the time I had described it as being something dark and even though it had felt that way, perhaps it was only a good force, alerting me of Aeris' revival.  
  
"Well, you see," I started, "It was actually kind of weird. I was. I was standing out on deck, kinda in a bad mood when Tifa invited me to come inside and join everyone else. I wasn't in the mood, so she went back in. Then I got some weird feeling and it. it made me go inside, where everyone else was. I couldn't even help it! Then it got even weirder when I started saying that 'the girl' was back and waiting in the Northern Crater. Then I just passed out. It was so strange."  
  
"Who, or what, do you suppose possessed you like that?" asked Aeris, with a bit of fear apparent in her expression.  
  
"I haven't a clue. It felt. it felt kinda like, you know, when Sephiroth used to come over me and make me do stuff. You don't think it's him, do you?"  
  
She took a deep breath and sat upright to answer my question. "I don't know. But Sephiroth's dead, how could it be him?"  
  
"I don't know," I answered, "It doesn't make much sense. say Aeris?"  
  
"Yeah," she answered inquisitively.  
  
"How did you... you know. come back?"  
  
"Well, don't you remember?" she asked with a cute smile, "I told you I'd be coming back when it was all over! You see, because I did a favor for the Planet and saved it from Meteor, it assured me that I'd be able to come back when everything had finished and be the same person, with the same body. My death was only temporary, so that I could carry out the Planet's plans. And also, the Planet needs me to be alive right now since my presence somehow makes it so that Sephiroth can't come back. You see, he was very powerful and much of his power he probably still has, even through death. But the Planet makes sure that he can't use it. It's all under control."  
  
"Wow; I didn't know that that was possible. but tell me: what was the Lifestream like?"  
  
She thought for a minute and then answered my question. "Hmm. I can't remember at all."  
  
"Do you. do you suppose that maybe when the Lifestream spat you back here, Sephiroth managed to find a way out as well?"  
  
A look of fear crossed of Aeris' usually content face. "I pray, with every inch of my heart, that that will not happen. Let's just hope that the thing that possessed you was good spirit. Otherwise, it could be anything."  
  
I then did something I never expected myself to do. I leant in closer to Aeris and rapped my arms around her small waist reassuringly.  
  
"Don't worry," I whispered in her ear, "I won't let that beast lay a finger on you."  
  
How wrong I was.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
Within a couple of hours, we had reached Costa del Sol and Cid let us off the Highwind. The whole gang stood right on the deck to say our farewells.  
  
"If you need to contact any of us," he started, "just use the PS."  
  
Aeris then went to say bye to everyone. She started with the pilot, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making him blush.  
  
"Thanks for the ride, Cid!" she said, "I hope to see you soon."  
  
"No problem, doll!" came Cid's husky voice, "Call whenever you need me to go somewhere in the ship."  
  
She then walked over to Vincent, giving him a simple handshake. "How you doing, Vincent?"  
  
"I'm alright," he said quietly.  
  
"Chin up!" Aeris ordered cheerfully, "You've got tomorrow to look forward to, haven't you?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Then Aeris skipped over to Barret, giving him a cute kiss on the cheek. "You know Barret, if it weren't for your starting up AVALANCHE in the first place, we wouldn't be here right now. Thank you."  
  
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, hear?" he said like a soldier in the military, "But how 'bout another little kiss?"  
  
Aeris laughed and shook her head, before finding herself in front of Red XIII. She scratched his head playfully, resulting in a sweet purr on his part. "You like that?" she asked, "Thanks for helping us out through everything. Your brains really are a huge help, you know!"  
  
"It's been my pleasure, Miss Aeris," he purred, "And again. I'm sorry for what back with Hojo and everything."  
  
"It's all in the past!" Aeris said, as she walked over to Cait Sith. She gave him also a kiss on the cheek. "You gonna get out of this costume sometime soon?"  
  
"I hope so!" he responded, "Thank you, Aeris. It's been a slice! You're a great person to work with."  
  
"No problem," she replied with a smile, "You've been wonderful as well."  
  
Aeris then had only Tifa and Yuffie left. She started with the young ninja. "Got any new material since I was gone?"  
  
"Um, a couple." said Yuffie, "And remember, if there's any material you don't want, you know what charity to give it to, right?"  
  
"Yes, yes." Aeris laughed merrily, as she looked down at the miniskirt, halter top and sneakers she had borrowed from Yuffie, "And thank you for the clothes. I'll get them back to you as soon as possible."  
  
"No problem!" The two hugged before Aeris went on to the last person she had to thank: Tifa. Tifa wore no friendly smile or warm expression. Instead she looked so strange and hostile. She had been so quiet all through Aeris' return.  
  
"Tifa." Aeris said with a tear in her eye, knowing the sad truth about their lack of friendship, "I've always really liked you and respected. I just wish we could have become even closer friends."  
  
"Yeah," Tifa agreed, but not in a very heart-felt or genuine voice, "Glad to see you again."  
  
Aeris smiled with that same tear lingering in her eye. I wanted to hold her and let her know that Tifa could be a better person and that she wasn't all that bad. but instead, I did nothing. Aeris was still a lady about it, even though Tifa couldn't accept too much emotion sometimes, and gave her a hug.  
  
"Goodbye, everyone," I said half-heartedly.  
  
"Take care," she bid as she smiled and blew a kiss to the others.  
  
The sweet scent of her hair then came my way as I slid my hand around her slender one before descending from the ship and helping her down. When we came to the ground she again waved to the others as the propeller from the ship started up.  
  
"And thank you, Cloud," she said quietly when it was just her and me.  
  
"For what?" I asked as I led her towards the town where I resided.  
  
"For keeping your promise."  
  
"Oh you mean taking you on the Highwind?" I said with ease, "It was no problem."  
  
"No, not that. I mean. being my bodyguard."  
  
"Oh," was my reaction. I didn't know what she meant. I had totally failed her! "Huh? Uh, Aeris, it was my fault that all that stuff with Sephiroth happened. I let you down."  
  
"No you didn't. It was because of you that I'm here today, Cloud. You have still a good deal to understand. The reason, you see, why Sephiroth can't come back is."  
  
"Well, cause you're back, right?" I interrupted, kinda scared she might say something that would make me uncomfortable.  
  
"No, there's more, Cloud," she continued, "It's weird actually, but you need to understand. Well, we seem to have."  
  
"MANGOS! Fresh mangos! Post-Meteor-crisis deal: three mangos for the price of one!"  
  
"What the hell?!" I exclaimed. We hadn't even noticed it, but we had walked right into the heart of Costa del Sol and merchants were pestering us from every corner of the town.  
  
"We passed the villa," I told Aeris, "What an idiot I am! C'mon!" I took her hand and led her back to the villa quickly. I was being weird, really weird, but I we had to escape the madness of town and the insanity of the merchants who were in full swing. We quickly ran to the villa, just barely escaping the guy selling codfish.  
  
"Wow." Aeris said stunned, "This place is beautiful. It must have cost you a fortune!"  
  
"Meh!" I said with ease, "It used to be President Shinra's I think. Would you like something to drink?"  
  
And so the rest of the day passed by leisurely, like that of normal people, the people who have families and work from nine to five. They might have a Golden Retriever, two kids and a nice wife who makes good spaghetti. That was the kind of life I had always wanted, but things never turned out that way. But at least on that particular day, I could spend the rest of my time with the girl I loved.  
  
I wondered if Aeris felt the same way about normal people as I went to sleep that night. I could see her lying peacefully in the bed across from mine, her chest again rising and falling with each breath. How beautiful she was. how I wanted her.  
  
I let sleep possess my body and mind slowly and surely like the gentle release of pollen from a flower. It crept its way over me as I lied thinking of the girl of my dreams, who slept only a few feet from me. Life was beautiful at that moment in time.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
"Don't get too used to this, boy," came a sinister voice.  
  
I was crouching in a dark room in the corner, where two hard cement walls met. I could see nothing. It reminded me of somewhere where hopeless people might go, in complete and everlasting mourning, jaded with their every breath. I felt alone. I hated that feeling. Where was Aeris?  
  
"She's not here," came that voice again, "Don't you understand?"  
  
Oh, no! I knew that voice. I knew that voice so well.  
  
"Sephiroth, you get away from me!" I demanded, "You're not real!"  
  
"Go ahead and believe what you want, but I know the truth." Footsteps came closer and so sounded the voice. "You were smart to guess upon how I've returned. Indeed, I've crept my way through a crevasse in the Lifestream, just as that girl found her way through a vortex. Is it just, though, that she be able to return to this world with such ease while the Planet would otherwise force me to stay locked away in captivity, my powers distant and unattainable? That's why I've returned, my boy. And this time you WON'T stop me!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" I yelled, "You're NOT real! And don't you dare even touch Aeris, you monster! If you try, I'll rip you to shreds!"  
  
Sephiroth then laughed his cold, devious laugh and he finally walked close enough to me to dimly illuminate the space around him, revealing his hideous and twisted smile. "Don't be so sure of yourself. You know so very little. and as for harming the Ancient: that's for you to do."  
  
I stood up to challenge him, trying to reach for my Buster Sword, which was nowhere to be found. "I would NEVER hurt Aeris! Now be gone!"  
  
He laughed again. "That's what you think, but just you wait."  
  
The beast then slowly disappeared, though I tried to grab at him, to make him stay so that I could finish him off. But just as he had disappeared, so did my dark and ominous surroundings, as I realized that I was only still in my own bed in a cold sweat, and rather than fighting valiantly, I was merely clawing at the covers with my breath racing. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
I woke up late in the morning. When I sat up in my bed, Aeris was already gone from the room. I stood up, putting on a housecoat and slippers, and walked out into the kitchen. There, I found Aeris wearing a big t-shirt of mine that I had leant to her to wear to bed, that looked so cute on her. She was brewing some coffee and frying bacon.  
  
"Good morning!" she said cheerfully, "You like to sleep in, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, sorry," I answered groggily, "Whatcha up to?"  
  
"Oh I'm just making some breakfast. It'll be ready soon."  
  
"You know, you just got resurrected from the dead. I'm not gonna make you prepare all my meals and clean my house, you know!"  
  
She laughed her always genuine laugh, "That's quite alright, Cloud. I should be earning my rent anyway."  
  
Geez, was she ever sweet! I was afraid she might have seen me staring starry-eyed at her beauty and grace. because there WAS so much of it!  
  
"Oh, and do you suppose I might be able to do some shopping today? I really need some clothes." she said indicating to the big Save the Rain Forest! t-shirt she was wearing, "Where do you get this stuff anyway?"  
  
I shook my head. "You'd never believe me if I told you!" I said with a laugh. She laughed too and the whole room lit up.  
  
"Whoops!" she said looking back to the stove, "The bacon's almost burnt! Breakfast is ready!"  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
The day passed by very well. We were both happy, and we sort of resembled a tourist couple on vacation, investigating all the native shops of the town. The beautiful grand stone steps leading down from the villa were alone a source of admiration and interest to Aeris, as she gazed at them with the strangest expression, as I if they had some significance. But I truly wished that we could be called a "tourist couple" at the very least, but I was much too shy to even propose such a thing with Aeris. She was just. way beyond me. I'd just let things come to me as they did.  
  
We had a great day, as we looked around all the little shops and sipped coffee in the small cafés. But one experience of the day sticks out in my mind more than the others. It was right after Aeris and I had left a boutique of scented candles and other feminine things that I have no interest in that I came across the next store.  
  
"Wow!" said Aeris with a giggle as I helped her carry the numerous bags full of chocolate, cinnamon, cinnamon bun and vanilla scented candles, "I never knew there were so many different scents in the world. I mean, who's ever heard of bumble berry?"  
  
"I have no clue!" I answered brightly, "You sure know how to empty your pockets though!"  
  
"It's a vice of mine."  
  
We walked to the biggest store in town: the ritzy department store, where Aeris needed to buy some clothes and stuff from. Inside, clerks and clothes racks alike greeted us as we looked around in awe. The store was world famous. Even Midgar, the world's largest city, didn't have such a big department store as this.  
  
Aeris scurried over, leading the way, to the women's section to pick out some, er, lingerie. stuff.  
  
"Do you think this is more of my color, or would the pale yellow one suit me better?" she asked seriously, as she held up a pink bra. I wondered who would be looking anyway but then I just hoped that she was trying to hint at something.  
  
"Uh, I, uh," I faltered as I scratched the back of my head, "Iunno. I gotta go buy some socks and stuff like that."  
  
"No, wait!" Aeris persisted, as she put down the bra and picked up a slinky, silky, sexy nightgown, that I would have really liked to see her in, "Do you think this would look good on me?"  
  
I did my best to keep my jaw from dropping, but my best just wasn't good enough. "Uh-huh." If I was already so interested in the nightgown alone, imagine how I'd be seeing Aeris IN it!!  
  
"You better try it on first though," I told her very matter-of-factly, getting my hopes up that maybe she would listen to my advice.  
  
"Nah," she unfortunately disagreed, "I gotta get through all this shopping quick. It's my size anyway; it should fit!"  
  
Too bad, I thought. Oh, well! It's always good to save the best for last anyway!  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
After a long day of doing pure girl stuff, Aeris and I retired to my villa, shopping bags in hand. She had spent a few hundred dollars on clothes alone, using the excuse that she had lost weight when she died and none of her old clothes would've fit her. I think that she had just gotten really excited when she saw how much money she had left in her bank account (which apparently doesn't close when you die) and gone mad with the shopping. Either way, the outcome was good for me.  
  
As we settled in for bed, she did exactly what I had hoped she'd do and asked me what I thought of her new pink negligee. When I looked up to see, I wasn't really, um, giving her full eye contact.  
  
"Uh-huh." was all I said.  
  
"You don't think it kinda makes me look fat around the waist and hips?" she asked, totally oblivious to my true concern.  
  
"Uh-uh," I answered, still not looking her at all in the eye.  
  
She sighed. "Well, I guess I can take your judgment for it. I mean, you know what's fat and what's not. right?"  
  
The rest I didn't hear, though it was plentiful. My thoughts, and vision, were, ahem, elsewhere. Finally, to my discontent, she quit asking me strange questions about her weight which I only half-answered, and got into her bed to start reading a Cosmopolitan magazine and the amusing negligee was out of view. I, on the other hand, went over to the washroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed.  
  
While I stood brushing my teeth and thinking of Aeris and some stuff about her, I felt the oddest sensation. The thin hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on end and a cold, chilling breeze seemed to sweep across the washroom from nowhere, rustling through my spiky hair. Fear was the next emotion to course its way through my blood stream as I dreaded what was to come next.  
  
No, no! I thought, This can't be happening. Not now.  
  
But it was happening and it was too late. I had spent the few precious seconds I had had to gain control of myself thinking stupid thoughts about Aeris, and things she would never do. I could already feel that black cloud descend over my mind and envelope it into its control. Now it was too late, and things were about to get bad.  
  
"Oh, Aeris!" called the strange, deep voice that I recognize from my dream that came jutting from my throat and out through my lips, sopping with poisonous tone, "Won't you come here please?"  
  
"Yeah?" she called from the bedroom, as I frantically prayed I wouldn't hurt her, "What is it?"  
  
"I need some help getting a knot out of my shoelace. you have long nails, right?" What a lie; and a bad one at that.  
  
"Well, alright. I'll try," she agreed as I heard her get up out of the bed she should have never left and walk my way.  
  
I felt a malicious smile curl its way onto my lips as that poor, innocent creature stood in front of me. Her cute little nightgown highlighted her nice points, but even that I hardly noticed at that time.  
  
"Mm-hmm," spoke my mouth in some sort of agreement, "I think I understand now."  
  
"Understand what?" asked Aeris, without even suspecting that something was wrong.  
  
"Understand why he chose you, my dear," I said as my hand touched her chin and neck so perversely.  
  
She was quiet for a minute before she backed away cautiously. "What are you doing, Cloud?"  
  
"Something wrong?" I asked in such an aggravating, know-it-all, bastard tone.  
  
But Aeris just merely lowered her head and spoke quietly. "No, it's fine. Now, uh. where's that shoelace?"  
  
"STUPID GIRL!" I suddenly yelled unexpectedly, "Let's see how strong your bond will be after this!" At that, I gave Aeris, who had done nothing, a hard hit to the collarbone, which sent her flying to the other side of the room. She hit her head against the bed frame and lay motionless. My inside was panicking, but my outside seemed so detestably cool and collected. I walked over to where she lay and stood above her, as if I were so superior to her.  
  
"That ought to show you, bitch!" came the horrible uncontained yell from my throat, just before I spat on her to show dispect.  
  
She stirred slightly and opened her eyes to look up at me; and I could tell that she looked at the real ME and not just at the body that was not at that moment mine. "You'll never break the bond, Sephiroth," came her voice, quietly but with strength, "You haven't defeated Cloud yet and you won't!"  
  
"Shut up!" I yelled again as I gave her a hard blow to the cheek, which after she didn't move. Then, as things must have done for her, they went black for me and I saw nothing more. 


	5. Chapter 4

Sorry if I haven't been doing any author's notes lately. I don't know if you guys like them but uh here's one. Oh, and thank you to those who reviewed, keep them coming! And feel free to criticize constructively.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
I woke up, finding myself lying on the ground, my vision blurred when I opened my eyes. But I did recognize one familiar and beautiful thing that made me happy for a split second, and that was my Aeris. She sat calmly as she dabbed at my forehead with a hot cloth, showing her nurturing side. But that joy of mine was whisked away quickly when I remembered why I was lying on the floor in the first place and what I had done.  
  
"Oh, no, Aeris!" I exclaimed as I quickly sat up, startling her, "It. it wasn't me."  
  
She looked at me for a minute, her thoughts hidden by her quizzical expression. That's when I noticed just what I had done to her. The poor thing's pretty new nightgown now had splotches of blood on it from where she had hit the bed. Her face and neck were also bruised. I felt terrible. absolutely terrible.  
  
"I know that it wasn't you, Cloud," she said quietly, "I hold nothing against you for what happened. But I'm alright and so are you. that's all that really matters, right?"  
  
"No, Aeris. I, I feel terrible about it. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't even stop myself from letting Sephiroth take over. It's my fault. it is all my fault. I'll get you a room at the hotel, take you back to Midgar, whatever you want! Just, please understand." I hung my head; I was afraid to look at her.  
  
She lifted my chin up with a soft touch to see my eyes. I saw her smile gently at me, even through the ugly purple bruise that I had left on her otherwise flawless face. How could she be so calm about this? I didn't understand how she could hold no anger against me for what I had done, for being so weak.  
  
"It's not your fault," she consoled thoughtfully after a brief silence, "If you're afraid that it will happen again, we'll get in touch with the others. I'm sure Red will know the answer to our problems, right?"  
  
I nodded. "Aeris... I got a question though. What was Sephiroth, or I, saying about a bond and all that?"  
  
"Bond?" she asked, before completing her answer, "The Bond is, well. This might come as a little of a surprise, Cloud. But, uh, The Bond is one of the reasons I'm back alive and everything."  
  
"I don't follow."  
  
She sighed and sat on the bed, trying to think of a good way to explain what she had to say next. "You see, Cloud, it seems that we, you and I, shared something before I was killed. That something is referred to as The Bond. Because of this bond being strong enough, things became possible for us. For example, The Bond is what helped you defeat Sephiroth in the end. The Bond strengthens you and helps you when in need. There are bonds between every human being to every other, but most are weak. If both spirits are strong enough, they can do so much, even when far, far away from one another. "  
  
"So why was Sephiroth talking about it?"  
  
"Because. because The Bond is also the reason that I am alive again. It was so strong that it helped the Planet to reverse the laws of life and catapult me back into this world. But there's more." After that she looked a little more somber. I listened carefully.  
  
"Sephiroth is strong, Cloud. And I now know for sure that he's back. And if you ask me, I think that he is definitely gaining power. He retained some power when he was in the Lifestream, though it wasn't useable at that point. But I think that what you said earlier, about him somehow creeping out of the Lifestream, was probably right. But if The Bond breaks, he will become very powerful again; it won't be too difficult. That's why. that's why we'll have to make an effort to keep The Bond going strong."  
  
I let the words sink in a little before speaking again. "Well, what can we do to keep The Bond strong?"  
  
"I. I'm actually not quite sure. All I know right now is that we should keep a good rapport between us and keep nurturing our, uh. friendship. But we can ask Red about it tomorrow, k? I know it's a lot to digest, Cloud, but it's very important. Sephiroth is going to be trying to break The Bond as best he can, since it's the only thing stopping him from getting back all his power. But don't worry too much, Cloud. We'll settle things in the morning."  
  
"I sure hope so."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
That night I had another strange dream, though I can't remember it very well. I was in the Ancient Forest again, trying to see my way through the infinite puffs of mist, as I searched endlessly for something. I searched for what seemed like hours before I finally stopped, after seeing a woman's form curled up under a big old oak tree. She looked asleep but on after a closer look I discovered that she had her eyes wide-awake. The girl first looked very thin and fearful, but as I advanced I saw that the girl was actually Aeris, covered in Mako, just as I had found her in the Northern Crater.  
  
I walked over to the deranged, catatonic version of the girl I loved and started touching her in immoral ways. She hardly flinched as I did what I did, and as I advanced further into the game, becoming even more ruthless with the poor girl in her disadvantaged state. After a while of that, I started laughing in a strange manor, like a maniac, like the man I hated.  
  
I continued my perverse actions with that insane laugh when I noticed that tears were forming in Aeris' unemotional and detached looking eyes. She didn't blink once, but rather accepted every terrible thing I did to her without a word, though she continued to shed numerous tears. Finally, when my laugh had become unbearably loud and detestable, I could finally seethe hideous trademark silver strands of hair coming from my own head. My hair was suddenly long, my body more tall and thin. Then lastly, I recognized a black cape flowing down from my back and that's when I knew I had become a monster.  
  
I had become that monster, the one I despised with everything in me. It was creeping its way into my life, only to try to destroy and distort my sanity. I wouldn't let it happen.  
  
But as I thought these things, I came to realize Aeris' sudden wordless screams as I pushed my self against and into her, destroying her purity.  
  
How could someone do these things? How could a rat of a human hurt her so much? I hated Sephiroth. I didn't care that this was just a dream, it was still atrocious, even though those terrible cackles continued right till the end. And when the end came I heard the first words of the whole dream.  
  
"You'll never win."  
  
"You've made her hate you."  
  
"You can't do anything right."  
  
"You're nothing."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
When I awoke from my disorienting dream world the next morning, I heard only the sound of quiet prayer. I looked over to see Aeris praying intently, knelt against the bed. The early morning sunlight cascaded into the room, perfectly to boast her beauty to the world.  
  
So without her noticing I arose from my bed and walked over to where she knelt, locked in devoted prayer. I stood behind her as I closed my eyes and listened quietly to the beauty of her eloquent words. But if you ever asked me, I would never be able to repeat what she had said, for the language was not that of humans, but rather a godly one. But somehow I still knew it was eloquent. perfectly beautiful in its sense and because of the sentiment she put into it, almost decipherable.  
  
She slowly arose from her quiet hum after a few minutes. She turned around and let out a quick scream when she was startled to see me right there. Right after, she took a deep breath.  
  
"Oh!" she sighed with relief, "It's only you, Cloud! Sorry. I was just surprised!"  
  
"It's okay," I told her calmly, glad to know that she wasn't the same half-being of my dream, "Don't worry. E-everything's fine."  
  
My breathing suddenly became heavier as Aeris still looked at me curiously, trying to understand my thoughts. But before she could, I did something even I didn't except. I swept her up into my arms and pressed my lips against hers, careful not to hurt her as I had in that terrible dream. She kissed me back quite willingly and flung her arms around my neck just after I had snuck mine around her waist. If I didn't know better, I would've said that she had expected me to do just what I did and was maybe thinking of doing the same thing herself.  
  
But this was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. there were no tears involved, though I could feel the emotion she poured into her every movement.  
  
It was a moment that was meant to be. It was a moment that I would never forget.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
Yeah. I really hope you didn't think that chappie was corny. I sure did! Anyway, I'll try to update and stuff soon. especially if you keep up the reviews!! ^_^ 


	6. Chapter 5

Well, it's me again! I hope you guys liked the last chapter. it was just a hint of what's to come next. oh! If you've read them, don't mind the strange reviews that Moon-Girl keeps on leaving. The girl's not all there, if ya know what I mean. J/K!!  
  
Chapter 5  
  
And so the day passed by like a regular day, like a regular day in the life of regular folks. I took Aeris to the beach after treating her to a new pink, string bikini, which I helped pick out. We spent a couple of hours at the beach, but we knew that we had to go see Red XIII. I was surprised with Aeris that she might still want to go to the beach, even with the ugly bruises that she had all over.  
  
"Come on, Aeris!" I hurried her as she refused to leave the waves, "We gotta get going."  
  
"Oh." she moaned, "But it's so much fun here! Can't we stay just a little longer?"  
  
She gave me the puppy dog eyes and with those emeralds, I just couldn't resist. "Oh, alright!" I gave in, like a parent with a child, "But just remember, only a few minutes more."  
  
"Yay!!" she yelped out.  
  
"Don't think for a second you're gonna have fun though." I told her jokingly, "You gotta get some punishment, ya know!"  
  
She let out a quick, "Huh?" but didn't expect me to pick her up and throw her into the deeper area. She swam back with difficulty because of all her laughter.  
  
"Yeah, well guess what?" was her response between giggles, "I bet you didn't know that I'm a class-A tickler!"  
  
Oh, no! I shuddered. I was just about the most ticklish person on the planet and she had finally found my weakness.  
  
"Nuh-uh, Aeris!" I warned as she neared me menacingly, "No tickling allowed!"  
  
"Oh? And you were allowed to throw me and get my hair all wet with salt water?"  
  
"Well, you see, I didn't really."  
  
"Too bad!!" she interrupted as she threw herself my way and started tickling me ruthlessly. I could not contain my laughter as we rolled around on the sandy shore, Aeris tickling the life out of me.  
  
"A-ha, ha!" I let out, "Stop, stop! Everyone's looking!" It was true; everyone was looking, but Aeris and I were having too much fun to stop.  
  
"I'm not stopping till you say sorry!" she laughed happily as she teased my stomach with her slender fingers, causing me to chuckle loudly.  
  
"I. I won't do it!!" I said as best I could throughout my erupting chuckles. The other people at the beach stared at us disbelievingly. Aeris continued to tickle me ferociously.  
  
"AHHH!!" I let out, "Holy crap!! That TICKLES!!"  
  
"You gonna say sorry?" asked her sweet feminine, but now sarcastic, voice.  
  
"Fine! Fine!" I gave up, "I'm. SORRY!!" She suddenly stopped tickling me, but her laughter didn't cease. We were now lying side by side on the sandy beach, chuckling at our juvenile games.  
  
"Gee." she sighed after she had stopped laughing, "I haven't had that much fun since I was about sixteen!"  
  
"Yeah." I agreed, "I-I don't think I've EVER had that much fun!"  
  
"Anyway. we better get back so we can get ready to go see Red."  
  
"Yeah. But I'll take you back here at night. It's really beautiful then I'm certain you'll love it."  
  
"Alright! Will do then!" she said with a smile before dragging me back to the villa to get ready to leave. Now I was the one who didn't want to stop playing.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
We arrived at Cosmo Canyon in late afternoon. Red XIII was excited to see us visiting him.  
  
"Ah!" he greeted as we entered the laboratory of his late grandfather, "What a pleasant surprise. How are the two of you?"  
  
"Well," I started, "I guess not too bad, but we've got an issue, Red."  
  
"Well why don't I make us all a cup of tea and." He started to speak, but I cut him off.  
  
"No, it's quite alright. We've just got to talk matters through."  
  
He nodded in agreement. "Very well. What seems to be troubling you?"  
  
I explained everything, other than my latest dream, to him. Aeris kept quiet throughout the whole story and listened to the words from my point of view. Red XIII again nodded when I had finished.  
  
"I see," he concluded with an intent look on his face, "Well, I have heard of The Bond. In fact, when I was a good deal younger, I studied it deeply during my schooling with my grandfather."  
  
"So tell us," said Aeris, "How can we make sure to keep The Bond strong and powerful?"  
  
"Hmm." Red pondered, "I believe the most efficient way would be to spend a good amount of time together, to build a good sense of trust and friendship, or whatever it is that you two share."  
  
"Yup, friendship!" I said, a little nervous that he might find out about the short kiss we had shared, "That's all. You got it!"  
  
Aeris looked down at her feet when I said this, perhaps unhappy that I might think of our relationship as only a friendly one. Red XIII continued. "If you are only friends than trust and friendship should be sufficient to your relationship. But be aware that if there's more to your relationship than just friendship, you best be nurturing it in a different way.  
  
"Well, we are just friends, but if we weren't." came my cautious voice, "Like what do people who are, uh, not just friends supposed to do?"  
  
"For those people, marriage is an absolute necessity. Also the Bonding Ceremony is a little different for them."  
  
"Bonding Ceremony?" I asked. I wondered why Aeris hadn't told me about this new discovery of mine, but when I looked over, she looked just as puzzled.  
  
"What would it involve, Red?" she asked inquisitively.  
  
"It's quite simple actually," he began, "The ceremony starts with candles and incense lit. The Bringer, who is like a priest, must make a blessing and then the two who are bonding will speak vows. In the end of the ceremony, the two will feel a definite connection. And that bond will be something which can accomplish much."  
  
"Sounds like a wedding," Aeris commented very casually, "But if all this ceremony stuff is needed then how did Cloud and I even have a bond between us to start with?"  
  
Red XIII nodded approvingly as if a good question had just been asked. "You see, the Bonding Ceremony is only good if there is a predisposition for the Bond. It is not a necessity however. With a natural bond between the two people, the ceremony will do nothing. But the ceremony will just make sure that in the end, the bonding couple will remain stronger in their relationship and with the ceremony, very little can come between them."  
  
"Then a ceremony should prove to be pretty useful in our situation, huh?" I said before the red lion nodded once more, "When do you suppose we could do this ceremony?"  
  
"We'd need the Bringer first, who would have to be a very knowledgeable Elder. This ceremony is not something very common nowadays, so it might be difficult to find someone."  
  
"Can't you just do it, Red?" asked Aeris encouragingly.  
  
"Well." he considered, "I don't have training. I'm not sure of the blessings that I'd have to give either."  
  
"Well look them up!" I told him, "We'd like to have you there, Red. C'mon!"  
  
Red looked over to Aeris who gave him a comforting smile. He finally gave in. "Well, I suppose I could."  
  
"Great!" said Aeris, "So when are we gonna do this then?"  
  
"I really don't have too much on my schedule," Red explained, "I'm available pretty much anytime. How bout you, Cloud?"  
  
"I'm not too busy either," I said, about to tell him that whenever was a good time, but Aeris disagreed. I felt her squeeze my hand, causing me to look down at the sweet young lady who was shaking her head from side to side to tell me "no". "Alright then," I started up, "I guess we could do it sometime next week. We could invite the whole gang too. How does that sound, Aeris?"  
  
"That would be very nice," she finished with yet another nod of the head.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
We arrived back in Costa del Sol late into the evening. We decided to tell all of AVALANCHE about this whole deal some other time, considering its detailed complications and the late hour. Instead I took Aeris out onto the beach.  
  
"You were right, Cloud," she whispered as the waves crashed against the quiet seaside, "It is. beautiful." She slipped her hand into mine for reassurance. With the exception of the relaxed sequence of the ocean's returning and leaving from shore, everything was silent. Was she scared? Was she nervous? Was she lonely?  
  
"I gotta know something," she said quietly as we continued walking, "Is our, ahem, bond just a friendly one?" She stopped and looked up at me.  
  
I thought for a minute, hoping that whatever I might end up saying would not hurt her feelings, because I did so love her. "Aeris. back at Cosmo Canyon. I said what I did, because, well I wasn't sure of, you know. how you were feeling and stuff. I didn't want to say anything that I might regret later on your behalf."  
  
"Hmm. then? What kind of bond is ours?" She peered up into my eyes, her own so piercing in their astonishing stare. How beautiful she was! Everything was perfect about her. Her hair was pinned back neatly into a French twist and she wore a cute sundress that made her look so innocent and carefree. I wanted to take her, right then and there, but I restrained myself as best I could.  
  
"Ours is a romantic bond, Aeris!" I told her passionately as I took her by the shoulders and looked down at her, "I gotta tell you. I just gotta."  
  
"What is it, Cloud? What?"  
  
"I." I couldn't say it, "I. I love... you."  
  
Her eyes sparkled at that moment in amazement. She resembled a young girl on Christmas morning opening a box full of marvelous surprises. She looked so vibrant, so happy, so alive. I was relieved to have that burden off my back. now she knew and now she and I were both happy.  
  
"Oh, Cloud." she said with tears in her eyes, "I love you too!" And not a breath after she had finished her sentence did she wait to throw her arms about my neck and press her lips willingly against mine, just like earlier that morning. And again I began to massage her waist as my hands snuck their way around her small contour. But this kiss was much more passionate than the one earlier. There was more hunger in everything we did than innocence in this one and I liked it.  
  
We continued to caress each other as the waves found their way back to the ocean bank, creating an unforgettable atmosphere. I didn't want it to ever end. I wanted to stay locked in that moment the rest of my life, never letting time control our lives.  
  
She soon let her hands slide down from my neck and down onto my chest as she drew back from my lips. And for a minute she just leant again me, savoring the youth of our blossoming love. I lied down on the sand and she did the same, curling up against my side for protection.  
  
"This is." she whispered in my ear, "This IS beautiful. Please. please don't leave me, Cloud."  
  
I looked down into her pretty face. "I would never ever leave you. And I promise. I promise that I'll never let Sephiroth touch you.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
How was that? Again, I hope it wasn't too corny or unrealistic. Thanks so much for the REVIEWS! Geez, are those ever FUN!!! Till next chappie. 


	7. Chapter 6

Alright. did you guys like that last chapter? I'm trying to speed things up and stuff but my brain seems to want to drag things out in terms of the plot. Sorry that I'm taking so long to update. er, I've been busy! Heh, heh.  
Chapter 6  
  
The week passed by well and Aeris' bruises healed quickly. We'd go to the beach daily and have some fun splashing around in the waves like love- stricken teenagers. We'd go do girly things that Aeris enjoyed, like shopping and. *sigh* those awful, awful silent auctions for antiques. Oh, well! It didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that Aeris was happy and enjoying herself in everything we did.  
  
I took her to dinner a couple of times in nice tropically-themed restaurants, where Hispanic guys playing acoustic guitars would sing us serenades in the sunset. Aeris would just giggle and hold my hand tighter from across the table for two. I'd smile back at her and maybe get a small kiss. But that was about all I got from her: kisses. It wasn't a big deal, since I just wanted her to be happy anyway. As long as she was content, I wouldn't force her into anything she didn't want to do. It may sound like a lie, but she really meant, and means, everything to me.  
  
And then that week passed by. Our Bonding Ceremony was to take place in Cosmo Canyon. By that time we HAD gotten in contact with everyone from AVALANCHE and Aeris' mother also. Everyone was going except for Tifa, who we couldn't get a hold of. Every time we had called heard, she would have never been home or some strange man, who sounded really sick, would have picked up and told us that Tifa wasn't taking calls.  
  
So when the day came for our Bonding Ceremony, we had in fact informed Red that it was indeed to be a romantic one. It was only over the PS that we spoke, but I could just sense the smile that must have curled over his furry muzzle. He laughed and told me that we'd need to get married soon as well for the Bond to really have a good effect over us. I told him that everything was still very new to us and that marriage wouldn't be for a while yet.  
  
Aeris spent about two hours getting ready in the washroom for our ceremony. I spent about five minutes. But when she came out all dressed and dolled up, it was definitely worth it.  
  
Her hair was pinned up with strands falling out, on purpose of course, to add to the effect. She wore some shiny gloss stuff on her lips and did something to really make her gorgeous eyes stand out. She wore a beautiful off-white strapless dress with fancy floral embroidery at the bottom. She was absolutely stunning.  
  
She smiled and my heart jumped in my chest. "How do I look?" she asked.  
  
Again, I found myself in a bind where it was difficult not to gawk, but this time I straightened up and looked her in the eye to speak. "You look pretty good."  
  
She raised an eyebrow suspiciously and nodded. "Alright. let's get going then. Aw! You look so cute in your tux, Cloud!"  
  
I had almost forgotten about the dorky penguin suit I was wearing. I looked down at it and shook my head. I didn't realize we had had to dress up so much at the beginning!  
  
I had no idea what to expect at this ceremony! Red had informed me that it wouldn't be too formal, but I was still very nervous.  
  
We took a chocobo carriage to Cosmo Canyon and arrived in the early afternoon. I stepped out of the carriage in my black loafers and offered Aeris a hand to step out as well. We walked into town to find all of AVALANCHE, with the exception of Tifa, and the entire town standing round the burning fire. Everyone wore smiles on their faces as they watched us walk towards them. I could see Cid and Barret giving me the thumbs up and the others whispering with laughter. Red stood on one side of the fire while all the guests sat on the other side.  
  
"Greetings!" said Red upon seeing us, "Please join us over here by the flames." He motioned for us to stand in front of him, before the fire. I took Aeris' hand in mine and we walked over to where he indicated. The guests all stood up in respect and a young boy carrying incense walked around the fire as an old man walked behind him sounding a bell. Aeris and I looked around at everything curiously. The old man started to chant and other Elders from the guests joined in with the sacred hymn.  
  
"Good afternoon," spoke Red when the song had died down, "We are gathered here today to reunite Cloud Strife and Aeris Gainsborough in Romantic Bond. The Romantic Bond is one of holiness and honor, one to be respected. Through this ceremony, these two individuals will be forever bound in soul and spirit unless the event of serious complications."  
  
Wow, I thought, This really feels like a wedding!  
  
Red looked me in the eye, then at Aeris. "Do you, Cloud Strife, promise to take this woman into your heart and to cherish her through life as well as through death?"  
  
"I.I do," I said nervously as I looked deeply into Aeris' somehow quietly beautiful eyes. They seemed to understand, to know. Something about them told me that our bond was true and very real. Did we even need this ceremony to know that?  
  
"And do you, Aeris Gainsborough," continued our fiery feline, "promise to take this man into your heart and to cherish him through life as well as through death?"  
  
"I do," she said with certainty as she smiled at me through all her elegance.  
  
A young girl put a garland of flowers around my neck that was connected by a red ribbon to a garland of flowers around Aeris' and joined our hands.  
  
"Then you may lead the bride around the fire," Red said to me. He had explained what would happen in the ceremony earlier to us, so we were familiar with what was to be done.  
  
I led Aeris and we walked around the fire in a clockwise motion while two Elders on either side played bells and sang the hymn again. That hymn must have been the blessing thing Red had told us about. We walked around three times before coming back to Red.  
  
"And to conclude the ceremony," he explained, "You may kiss the woman and all will be done."  
  
I again looked deeply into Aeris' eyes and almost lost myself in their glowing infinitude. She was so stunning, so beautiful. But just as I was about to lean in and kiss her, I saw a strange reflection in her eye. Someone was coming running towards us. Aeris took her gaze away from me to see what it was and a look of confusion engulfed her formerly passive and calm expression.  
  
I snapped my head around and there she was. Tifa was running towards Aeris with a sharp knife, ready to stab her. I took my love into my arms protectively and Tifa stopped in her tracks. Everyone at the ceremony started to scream and get up from their seats to run. My former colleagues, however, stayed by my side, with weapons ready.  
  
"What are you DOING?" I yelled at Tifa while Aeris watched timidly from my arms.  
  
"Ha, ha!" laughed the girl I used to call my friend, "The ceremony cannot continue!"  
  
I was puzzled. "Wha..?"  
  
But when I realized the malicious grin spread over Tifa's lips, I turned my head around to see what she was looking at. And there, right next to Aeris and me, was my arch nemesis. It was, it was. Sephiroth! How he had appeared without anyone noticing I don't understand. But I had no time to think anyway. He let his fist fly and hit me square in the jaw. I fell over in bewildered pain, releasing Aeris from my clutch.  
  
"Cloud!" she screamed. I looked over and realized that Sephiroth was fleeing off, carrying her with him.  
  
"NO!!" I yelled, doing my best to stand and run towards my distancing worst enemy and my greatest love. But they were too far and even though I was on my feet and running swiftly, I couldn't reach them before he started to take flight on his ugly, solitary wing.  
  
I could see Aeris crying as Sephiroth roughly held her and pushed her when she struggled. I wanted to hit him and hurt him and kill him. I wanted to torture him for hours and hours on end before destroying him from any sort of existence. He had taken my angel, and I had promised that that would never ever happen.  
  
But just as all hope seemed lost, I heard a gunshot.  
  
"AH!" screamed Sephiroth as he fell, releasing Aeris just as I had. They both hit the ground hard from about four feet off. Aeris just lied on the ground for a minute before her kidnapper yelled a second time.  
  
"I'll have you for this!" yelled the hideous silver-haired man as he clutched at his bleeding arm. He stood on his feet painfully, cussing under his breath, and with a twirl of his cape and a cloud of smoke, he was gone. I ran over to Aeris.  
  
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" I asked her as I pulled her up into my arms once more.  
  
Her eyes were closed as she lied silently, her body limp. The others ran to our side, as all harm seemed to have disappeared.  
  
I looked up at the quiet vampire-like figure that had saved my treasure's life with his simple sniper. "Thank you, Vincent." He nodded simply.  
  
"Tifa is nowhere to be found," said Red, "Come. We need to get Aeris to a bed." I stood up, holding my gem and my group and I walked towards the inn.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
"How many fingers am I holding up?"  
  
Aeris was very groggy still and obviously didn't want to answer my little test.  
  
"Mmm." she grumbled as she stirred in the covers.  
  
"How you feeling honey?" I asked her as I sat next to her on the bed. Everyone else was waiting in the Turtle's Paradise bar, where I had told them to stay while I spoke with Aeris.  
  
"I." she forced out sleepily, "I'm okay I guess. Did I pass out?"  
  
"Uh-huh," I answered, "That. that creature had you for a minute there." I felt my fists clench at the thought of Sephiroth.  
  
"I'm so sorry, darling. I am so, so sorry." I kept on failing her, again and again.  
  
"Hey," she whispered, "It's fine. I'm fine, you're fine. That's all that matters anyway."  
  
I shook my head. "I don't know what happened back there. I don't know what the hell's wrong with Tifa either." That would something else I didn't understand.  
  
"It's okay," she said stroking my cheek, "I love you so much, Cloud." Her words were unexpected, but she topped them off with a small, blissful kiss. "Why don't we go down to the bar, huh?"  
  
"But, Aeris." I started, "You're still so weak. I won't let you! You're bleeding and everything too."  
  
"Oh rubbish!" she said with a laugh, "These are only cuts! I'll make it, especially with a little help from Bacardi."  
  
"I didn't know you drank!" I exclaimed surprised.  
  
"Only when I feel like it. and when I'm out with friends."  
  
"Well in that case, you're in good company, baby." She laughed as I helped her up from her bed and led her downstairs to have some fun. But little did I know, the twisted threat still lingered and a broken heart sought vengeance against her opponent. 


	8. Chapter 7

Well, that last chappie was weird, huh? Yeah, sorry it took so long for me to make it. Oh, and guys. I've decided to dedicate this next chapter to, ahem, a very special someone. sob sob.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
A million things passed through my mind after arriving back home from the ceremony. Aeris was back. Aeris was by my side again and forever. And she loved me. Life was blissful in her company. How any man could resist her, I didn't know.  
  
The others would come visit us every so often and hang out in the villa. Everyone but Tifa, that is. we still hadn't heard back from her since the disturbing events of the ceremony. I couldn't understand why she would betray Aeris and me in the way she did. It was all very upsetting for Aeris too, as she confessed that she had always thought highly of Tifa.  
  
"I don't understand." she sighed while cooking some stir-fry one evening, "She had always been a good person, you know what I mean?"  
  
I merely nodded in agreement. I had indeed loved Tifa, even if that sort of love was very different than the kind I had for Aeris. Tifa was a good friend, and it was sad to know that she, in some way, was helping the world's most despised villain. But if that's what she wanted, then there was no way that I could let her back into my heart. It was just too great a crime.  
  
"Don't be sad, doll," I comforted Aeris, "I'm upset too. But there's nothing we can do now anyway. Something's gone wrong with her. Now all we can do is hope that she'll get some sense knocked into her and stop what she's doing."  
  
"I guess so." Aeris said quietly as she got back to her cooking. She was quiet for a minute, but then spoke up again. "Cloud."  
  
"Uh-huh," I answered from my spot at the kitchen table.  
  
"Do you think Tifa still likes you.?"  
  
I pondered for a moment trying to understand why she'd ask that. "I dunno. I wasn't ever sure that she really ever did.why?"  
  
"Well." she started, "Don't you think that if that's the case, she and Sephiroth would have sort of the same intentions. to break you and me up?"  
  
She looked at me with serious and fearful eyes. She had made a good point. And we both knew that it was, in fact the closest thing to the truth. I stood up and walked over to where she stood. She turned her mind back to the stir-fry. I stood behind and snuck my arms around her waist as I rocked her back and forth.  
  
"Shh," I whispered as I let her cry quietly, "It's okay, Aeris. In the end we'll understand, won't we?"  
  
She didn't say anything. She just let me do as I would and sobbed quietly. I cradled her in my arms and whispered my amorous words into her ear, but she merely shed all her tears. Was she scared? Was she nervous?  
  
"I've lost someone special, Cloud." she barely spoke.  
  
"I know. I have too."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
The next few days were slow and even though I had Aeris with me, they were monotonous. We did the same things we did the previous week, but nothing was the same. We knew something was up, but yet if we wanted to fix it, we wouldn't have known where to start. We knew nothing of where Sephiroth and Tifa were. Barret told us that he had inspected Tifa's house in the unharmed area of Midgar several times, but nothing could be found of her whereabouts. I tried her time and time again, but I couldn't get in touch with Tifa either.  
  
Aeris was still very, very upset. She'd often be very quiet and say little. I knew that she was still making an effort to be pleasant though, since she'd throw me smiles here and there. I could tell that those smiles were forced though, even if she was trying. She'd be up late at night, cleaning and doing everything she could to keep busy. And that's another thing. she took very goody care of me. We weren't even married and she somehow felt responsible for cleaning my house and feeding me. I told her that it wasn't necessary, but she'd just ignore my protests.  
  
One night, I had had enough. I loved Aeris and cared about her; I didn't want to see her sulking around all the time! While she was getting into her bed, I confronted her about how I felt.  
  
"Hey," was my opening, "How you doing?"  
  
She looked up at me curiously. We hadn't said much to each other the whole day so she must have been a little puzzled to hear me speaking so suddenly.  
  
"I." she started, "I guess I'm okay."  
  
She was in a new fancy nightgown and I sat in my very casual, happy-face boxers. I stared into her eyes and again became enraptured in their beauty. But this time, there was something so sorrowful about them. They always looked ready to release warm, salty tears but Aeris always held them back. I came and sat next to her on her bed. "Are you really?"  
  
She sighed despairingly. "Oh, Cloud." She suddenly tucked her head in against my chest and just cried. She cried like I'd never seen her do, releasing her every emotion.  
  
"Why? WHY?" she asked through her tears, "Why must my love always be so painful?"  
  
I pushed my chin so that it sat comfortingly over her head. Her hair was soft and smelt sweet. Though Aeris didn't know it, I needed her just as much as she needed me at that time. She meant so much. so, so much.  
  
"I know, baby," I sighed quietly, "I know how you feel." She continued to cry for a few minutes and I didn't mind. She needed to let it out and I needed to have her close to me again. How important she was to me. She released her feelings. She spoke a little, she cried a lot. But most of all, she freed herself.  
  
After a little while she brought her head up to look at me. "Oh," she said with a little laugh, brushing the tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a baby."  
  
"It's fine," I told her, "You feeling better now?"  
  
"Mm-hmm," she nodded.  
  
"Good." I said, stroking her hair, "I missed you over these past few days. Inform me next time you go outta town, k?" We giggled a little, but suppressed our laughter with a union of the lips. I just didn't know how far it would go.  
  
She kissed me back and we let ourselves go. I again slid my big hands around her small, delicate waist. I grabbed at the silky fabric of her white nightgown and smoothed it against her body as we continued to kiss.  
  
"Mmm." she moaned quietly, "Hee-hee!"  
  
She let her own fingers travel up my bare chest teasingly until she reached my shoulders, where she found herself wrapping her arms around.  
  
"I need you so bad." I gasped between our lip locks.  
  
"I know, I know!" she stated briefly with her sweet feminine voice, before getting back to what we both needed.  
  
On and on we went, but every time I'd try to push it a little further she'd hold back. She knew the limits and wasn't going to compromise them, not even for someone she loved. Eventually, however I found myself just making my every movement subconsciously. I didn't even think about what I did; I just did it. I just assumed that it was my body making the decisions, instead of my mind. It was okay with me as long as I wasn't doing anything harmful. But soon. soon it got worse.  
  
I was going for her skirt and started to reach my hands up it very sensually.  
  
"Cloud!" Aeris exclaimed cautiously before drawing back and away from me, "What are doing?"  
  
Then I knew that I hadn't just been acting on instinct. my words revealed that I wasn't even controlling myself anymore. "Oh, come on, Aeris. I think you and I both know what you REALLY want." I reached for her again but she stood up and away from the bed. I stood with her and took her by the shoulders.  
  
"Cloud." she said, her eyes quivering with fear. She knew something was up. "I. I'm not very comfortable."  
  
"That's fine." I pushed her down against the bed and started pressing my lips against her, but she didn't return the favor. She tried pushing me away but I just pressed in harder then.  
  
"Stop it, Cloud." she shouted, "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"I'm doing what I wanna do, Aeris. Just cooperate and I'll go gentle on you."  
  
"No, stop!" She tried to roll away on the bed, but my hand came down so she could go no further. I pressed my face very close to hers. She was breathing very heavily all of a sudden. "You're gonna do what I want, alright, bitch?!" She said nothing. "You HEAR?!" She said nothing again and I gave her a hard blow to the cheek. She whimpered a little in surprise and started to squirm.  
  
"Cloud!" she said, as if calling to the real me, "I know it's not you! Please. see your way through this. Take control!"  
  
"SHUDDUP!" my lips yelled at her, giving another harsh slap. I hated myself right then and there. I was so weak to not even be able to help her.And how hard I tried to free my body from doing such things. I tried to take control, I tried so hard.  
  
"Come on, Aeris," I cooed in a creepy voice as I forced her over to the headboard on the bed, "It's not that hard. Just give it up and it'll be fine."  
  
"I. I won't do it when you're not yourself, Cloud. I just won't."  
  
"YES YOU WILL!" I screamed and started madly ripping at the top part of her nightgown like an animal.  
  
"Get OFF of me, Cloud! OFF!" She was now screaming as I raged towards her wildly, finally ripping her nightgown to expose her body, only covered by a skimpy lingerie. She had had enough and gave me a quick slap on the cheek.  
  
"Oh-oh!" I joked dangerously without a hint of sympathy, "That's how you want it to be, huh? Well, guess what! We're doing things MY WAY! Now just lie down and cooperate. And don't you ever, ever hit me again, you hear?!" I gave her another terrible blow to the head. She touched her cheek and was fearful in discovering the blood trickling out beneath her right eye.  
  
"Let me GO, Cloud!" she screamed through her tears, "Please! Please!" She started to do everything she could to get away from me, but I merely grabbed her wrists and laughed at her feeble attempts. I felt so guilty, so awful.  
  
LET ME OUT, SEPHIROTH! Came my internal screams, though only Sephiroth and I could hear them. DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY ANGEL!  
  
I found my mind clawing at endless black curtains trying to find a way out, but all that my eyes saw was the repeated fear being inflicted on Aeris. I could see her desperation, her attempts to get away from my harmful blows. And how many times I hit her I still don't know.  
  
She had quit fighting so much when she became tired, but continued to struggle with whatever energy she had left. She'd claw at my chest desperately, hoping to achieve something. But when she'd try, I'd just as easily laugh like the demon Sephiroth was, and maybe hit her ruthlessly again. She was crying loudly without being able to help it through her brutal beatings.  
  
Soon I was lying right on top of her, pressing all my weight onto her fragile frame, crushing her against the suddenly rock hard bed. She screamed so loudly for someone, for anyone, to help her. And how I prayed the neighbors might here or something. Someone needed to save her, because I was soon to ruin her.  
  
But of course no one came. No one could take the few, simple minutes to call the police and save the world's savior and most prized possession from the grips of sin and evil. Little did they know, Aeris had saved the world's ass from Meteor, but they were all too selfish to help her. They were selfish, useless and weak people.  
  
I continued to terrorize Aeris and soon I was doing what I most feared I would do. As I lied on top of her, disgustingly skimming my tongue and lips over her soft skin much to her protests, I stopped. A grin suddenly appeared over my lips and I laughed again.  
  
"Now, COME ON!" I yelled at her as I started pressing myself against her.  
  
"Cloud, NO!" she screamed shrilly as I ripped my way against her. She was bawling her eyes out insanely as I brushed roughly against the surface of her private areas, immorally and disgustingly inflicting every sort of pain. Inside I was crying too. Inside I hated everything. Inside I wanted to die and release Aeris of this awful pain. But on the outside I was destroying.  
  
And finally I had pushed my way inside. Aeris screamed in discomfort and fear. How could anyone do something so awful to someone so helpless? She started to sob quietly instead of wailing loudly as my lips made sounds of perverted ecstasy. I wanted to just hold Aeris at that point and comfort her. Instead, I robbed her of her purity by bursting my way into her virgin beauty. How low Sephiroth was. how very low.  
  
A few minutes later, I released Aeris of all that pain. She was still crying, her face so red and swollen from my numerous beatings. I looked down at her and she looked back incredulously. I hated me. I hate me almost as much as I hated Sephiroth. I wanted to cradle my frail, broken doll in my arms. But instead my hand bunched its way into a solid fist and gave her a last hard blow to the face and she passed out.  
  
Though she was totally out of it, I continued to laugh viciously like an animal. I laughed maliciously at her pain and weakness though I was really screaming underneath.  
  
"Take that, you stupid wench," my lips cackled, "I hope you burn in HELL!" After that, my head became heavy. How someone could sleep after committing such a heinous crime I'd never understand. But I had no choice. My eyes closed and my head rested on the pillow and the world faded away, but my sorrow did not.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
A/N: Hey, I hope that that wasn't too insane. Was it too intense? I really wanna know cause, like, I really wanted it to be an effective scene! Thanks for "tuning in" lol! Please review with your comments and constructive criticism!! 


	9. Chapter 8

Well, I had that y'all weren't all weird-feeling after that last chappie. I'm sorry if it kinda ruins the whole happy thing, but this story isn't meant to be all happy and stuff anyway, so.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
The sun shone brightly onto my face. I arose from my deep slumber and sat up in my bed. I had forgotten everything. I could think of nothing to fear, but for some reason, I could still feel that strange murky, nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach like something very bad had happened. I looked around groggily to see the back of a woman facing me. She seemed to be buttoning up her blue shirt at the front. She wore with it a knee-length skirt as well.  
  
"Is that you Aeris, darling?" I asked the woman ignorantly.  
  
She didn't answer or even turn to look at me. She just continued to button up her shirt in silence.  
  
"Why don't you come sit with me, doll? Is something wrong." I trailed off, remembering vividly the events of the night before. I could hear her crying in my mind as I hit her beautiful face, time and time again. When my mind came back to reality, I could hear her sobbing quietly again as well. I sat silently, wishing I were dead.  
  
No! I thought to myself, That was just part of my nightmare. that never really happened. It couldn't have.  
  
Aeris continued to cry a little as her shaking hands struggled to do up the shirt. She spoke to me between tears, though she was still turned around. "I've decided that it would be better if I were to stay at the inn, Cloud. That way we'll still be close, but, well."  
  
"Aeris, you must understand," I stuttered, so afraid, "It wasn't. it wasn't me! It was never me! I love you so much, my dear, dear Aeris! I would never hurt you. Please understand, that I am more sorry than any man on this planet has ever, ever been. I apologize that I wasn't good enough to even take control of myself, or help you through the end. I hated every bit of what happened. I wanted to die, Aeris, and I still do. I am sorry! I am so, so."  
  
"Enough," she cut me off sternly, but coolly, "I have to get going if I want to get a room. Take care, Cloud." Without even so much as looking back at me, she started heading for the front door, so I whipped a robe on and ran after her.  
  
"Aeris, please!" I pleaded as I stood behind her, just before she reached the door, "At least look at me when I talk to you!" But she just shook her head "no," and refused to turn her pretty face to look at me.  
  
"I.I can't," she concluded as she opened the door to leave, "I've got to get going. I'll be near if you need me for anything."  
  
"No!" I said, grabbing her arm roughly, turning her around to face me. At that point, I knew that I had lost everything. Sorrow had deeply rooted itself into her pores after what had happened the night before. She had a monstrous black eye and the rest of her face was badly bruised and cut up, like photos you might see of women viciously abused by their husbands. Her neck and arms as well, were bruised badly from the horrific beatings she had received for not giving in. I wanted even more to be dead. I wanted so much to be able to run back into the past and undo it all, save her from her wounds.  
  
"You see?!" she cried out tearfully, "You see why I didn't want you to look at me? You don't deserve to have to look onto something so ugly, Cloud, something so ghastly! You're a good man, and for that I love you. But. I'm afraid that I just can't trust you, as much as I would love to. I'm sorry. And I know that none of this is your fault. I do understand, but I can't. I just can't trust you. I'm sorry."  
  
She gave me a quick soft kiss on my lips before departing. It was a fast, but I could feel her despair through our brief union. She walked out and when she was a few yards away, she looked back at me with an absolutely forlorn expression on her face, her eyes pleading to me. She wanted so much to be with me, and I with her. But it wasn't going to happen. our love was too good a thing to be possible in a world full of sin and anguish.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
A slow two and a half weeks lived me for the next seventeen days, though I lived no more. I seldom left my home and I when I did, I'd return soon. I spent most of my time drinking my Jamaican Rum or whatever else I could find in the cupboards. It did help. I could spend a few hours almost forgetting how much the world hated me before falling back into dreamful, awful sleep.  
  
I dreamed of raping Aeris, over and over and over again, though I could see no silver strands of hair or black cape like in my past dream. No, I was purely Cloud, a weak man who was indeed just as guilty as Sephiroth was. I had failed the one person I cared enough about to love, the one person who truly meant something to me. And Sephiroth was right. it was ME who hurt Aeris in the end, just like he had said in the first awful dream I had had of him.  
  
And how I loved Aeris so much. Her memory would grip at my heart everyday, but my hate for Sephiroth would instead rip and claw its long, gruesome nails against it, scratching off the finish. I was too afraid to go visit my darling though. I was certain that she hated me. there was no way she couldn't have! I had done one of the very worst things I could have done to her, and now I'd broken her golden coating of beauty, as I pierced my way through her flesh ruthlessly. My heart screamed no, but my body had not reacted to my thoughts. I had not been bothered by Sephiroth since that fateful night, except for in dreams, but I could still remember every feeling it gave me.  
  
Yes, he came to me in dreams, and not just the ones about raping Aeris. I'd be sitting in that same prison of darkness, where he'd appear and tell me awful things and I'd never be able to defeat him. He would tell me that he loved and lusted for Aeris much more than I ever could and that he could take much better care of her. That's why he had done what he made me do, so he could live his perverted "love" to her through me. He told me that he'd never let us be together, that we could never have a future together since he loved her more and that she loved him. But how a woman could ever love such a beast I never knew.  
  
Never again would it happen. All I needed now was my bottle and I was content. I didn't even care that Sephiroth was alive was somewhere, plotting against the world. I had saved the Planet before; it should've been someone else's turn now. Aeris too, had definitely done enough already. She had died for an ungrateful world that deserved little and I felt for her. Never had I met someone so wonderful, so beautiful, in my life. She was truly something...  
  
After about two and a half weeks of lonely days and sleepless nights, I got a phone call that I would never have expected. It was around nine in the evening and the sun had already set. I picked up the phone and with a groggy, distant voice answered, "Hello?"  
  
"H, hi, Cloud." It was Aeris! I was so relieved to hear from her. I had almost felt that she had disappeared. But though I was glad to hear from her, her voice was nervous and fearful.  
  
"Hey, Aeris!" I replied excitedly, "How have you been?"  
  
"I gotta talk to you, Cloud." Her voice was so quiet now that she was whispering and I could hear her stifling back a sob. Oh, no. I'd done so much wrong.  
  
"Alright," I started, "Well where would you like to."  
  
"Come to the inn, Cloud. I'm in room two hundred and forty-six. You really need to get here as soon possible." She was now speaking quickly and cautiously. Her tone was starting to frighten me.  
  
"Okay, Aeris. I-I'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
"I'll be waiting." She hung up the phone abruptly. It wasn't the usual Aeris that I had just spoken to. Oh, no! This time she was so anxious and frightened about something, though I didn't know just what it was yet. But the news she had to tell me was definitely going to alter the rest of my life.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
I rushed over to Aeris' room as fast as I could, even though I looked like a piece of crap. I hadn't shaved in days and I was wearing gross old clothes. I was sure that Aeris would've been all dressed up, but when I arrived at her doorstep, I was very surprised.  
  
"Hey," I said warmly to her as she opened the door a crack, just enough to see me.  
  
"Oh, hi, Cloud," she said awkwardly as she opened the door fully. She didn't look so great. In two and a half weeks, she looked as sick as a dog and as thin as a rail. Her white sundress was baggy and loose on her and she had ugly dark circles under her eyes. She still had small remnants of the awful bruises I had left on her face, but the worst part was a long red scar along her cheek. What had I DONE?!  
  
"Oh, Aeris." I sighed worriedly upon seeing her.  
  
"We gotta talk," she said coldly with teary eyes, "Let's go for a walk." She stepped outside of her room and locked the door, looking around to see that no one was watching her.  
  
We walked outside of the inn and I noticed that she was glaring at the stone steps outside my house. Just what was her fascination with them? We continued walking silently in each other's company, but this time our hands remained unlocked and distant. We reached the beach before sitting down on the warm sand. The sun had set and we just watched the waves crash gently against the welcoming shore.  
  
"So." I started, "How have you been, Aeris?" I looked over to the girl sitting next to me, who looked so different and who was but a skeleton of the girl I used to know. She was such a sad sight.  
  
"I've been managing," was her quick answer. She obviously didn't feel comfortable in my company, as she answered my question with the bare response.  
  
"So what did you wanna talk to me about?"  
  
She was quiet for a moment as she just looked longingly at the ocean. She wanted to be free from all that pain, but her mental state was nowhere near satisfactory. I wanted so much to help her as she just stared of into space, yearning for the few, precious, semi-worry-free days we had had together just weeks ago. We had never had worry-free days though. our lives were much too complicated to resemble those of normal people.  
  
I just watched my sweetheart as she ominously gazed off into the oblivion, a silent tear rolling down her cheek. I wiped it off gently, but she moved away.  
  
"It's alright." she whispered, antsy at my touch.  
  
"Aeris, what's wrong?" I asked caringly, "Is it something other than the whole.. you know.?"  
  
She nodded her head as more tears came spilling from her eyes. Her face soon became red and she quietly started sobbing. She leant her head against my shoulder then and showed no more reluctance to being near me. I kissed the top of her head and she sighed sadly as she continued to cry.  
  
"Sweetie." I told her lovingly, "I love you so much. You mean everything to me, doll."  
  
"Thank you, Cloud. I. I'm glad to hear that. I really, really needed to."  
  
"It's okay, baby. It's okay."  
  
She brought her head up to look me in the eyes. "I don't wanna say anything to scare you, Cloud, but I gotta ask you something."  
  
"Anything," I told her with a smile.  
  
"Well," she started, now very obviously nervous, "Would you ever think about getting married and having a family one day?"  
  
"With you? Definitely! I love you, Aeris, I would, without a doubt, wanna spend the rest of my life with you."  
  
She smiled sweetly, her nervous frown almost disappearing. But she soon got back to what she had to say and she became somber again. "Well, I. I really have to tell you something, Cloud."  
  
I looked at her curiously, with worry too. How deep the lines in her face were, and how dark the circles beneath her eyes. how depressing it was to look at her! "Cloud. well, you know what happened that night a couple weeks ago, of course. And well, I'm kinda late and stuff."  
  
I was getting nervous now, too. very nervous. "Oh.ok. Continue."  
  
"And so I went to the drugstore and bought a home pregnancy test, and I." She couldn't finish her sentence.  
  
"What happened, Aeris?" I questioned frightfully, hoping that there was some silly, funny twist ending that we'd both laugh at for hours.  
  
"And, well, I. I tested positive, Cloud. You and I are gonna be parents." She looked up at me, her eyes filled with newly blossomed tears. She watched me questioningly, waiting for my response. So I just gathered her up in my arms carefully and started kissing her head lightly like I had before. I felt awful for her. so very awful.  
  
"I am so sorry, Aeris." I whispered to her and she let her tears leak out once more, "I am so, so sorry. Will you forgive me?" She released herself from my hold and looked at me.  
  
"But of course! Oh, Cloud! I don't blame you for anything. I'm just so scared. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I can't be a mother. not yet anyway."  
  
Her eyes were still so glassy and covered by a thick layer of her tears. I looked down into her those little emeralds, though I just couldn't find myself getting enraptured by them this time; there was so much despair, so much loss.  
  
"I love you, Aeris," I told her in a serious voice, "You know that by now. You do. And I love our unborn baby very much. I'm not afraid, nor should you be. It'll be a beautiful blessing and you'll have nothing to worry about." She sniffed a tear back and smiled beautifully again. Though I had been a little bit afraid a few minutes ago, I had nothing to fear now. We had made something together, something fantastic. This child was going to be wonderful, a true godsend, and Aeris was going to be a wonderful mother. I was so happy. even though the way the child was conceived was awful, it was going to turn out well in the end.  
  
"You know," Aeris started again, now only crying from joy, "My mother always used to use that old saying, 'Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.' And you know, even if it is sappy-sounding, it's very true and I think we're going to be very happy. You. you will stay with me, right?"  
  
"Oh, of course!" I exclaimed, "I wouldn't leave you and our baby for the world." She almost looked like she'd forgotten now, forgotten the pain I'd left on her. But I could still see that long ugly scar on her cheek that reminded her and me of what had happened and the lost look in her eyes, of something that would never be returned.  
  
We now had something to look forward to. I smiled down at her again and tilted my head sideways to land my lips against hers. She let me kiss her passionately, my mouth and body desiring hers more and more. I was surprised that she would let me get near her and that she wasn't afraid of being hurt again. She just let me did as I would this time and responded very little, though before she would have normally replied physically whole- heartedly. I suppose I could have done much more that night than just kiss her, but I didn't want to. I would have felt as though I were taking advantage of her fragile state, mentally and physically. How beautiful a creature she was. Though still so breakable and somewhat sick, her true core beauty shone through her now frail outer appearance. She pushed her small, dainty hands against my chest, but not in a way to tell me to get off. It was just in a way that said, "Go on. I need you."  
  
But then a horrifying thought came to my mind. I came to a sick realization of a possibility that wouldn't be too far from reality. And I soon grew afraid. very afraid. I drew back from our kiss and Aeris looked at me with curiosity.  
  
"What's wrong, Cloud?" she asked me.  
  
"Oh." I said thoughtfully, "Aeris. what are we gonna do if. well how are you gonna trust me around the baby, cause well. you know."  
  
She too got a frightened look over her face and grew quiet. "I don't know, Cloud. but can we not find Sephiroth and get things over with for once and for all? I mean. it can't be so hard, right? Anything will be possible and you know that we can make it work!"  
  
"Yeah," I breathed, glad that one of us still had a little hope left, "I better get you back to the inn now."  
  
"Alright. But why don't we walk around a little while, huh?" I took her hand in mine and helped her stand. We walked slowly out away from the beach and back into town. Our steps were leisurely, but we were happy to be together again, for a little while anyway. She was going to have my baby and I'd never heard happier news before in my life! I was so happy. so very happy.  
  
"I hope you've been keeping the villa clean," she mentioned as we walked up the ornate stone staircase towards it.  
  
"Heh." I said, scratching my head. We sat down on the ledge near my home for a minute to relax.  
  
"So what are you gonna do about the whole Sephiroth issue?" she asked me.  
  
"I'm not quite sure." I admitted, "But there must be some way to find out where he is and everything right now. Someone must have seen him around, or will."  
  
"But you never know. What if he, like, cut his hair to look different and stuff so no one would recognize him? But of course, there will be some way for you to defeat him. There's gotta be!"  
  
"For sure. I'll do whatever I can to protect you and our baby, Aeris. And I know that that sounds like a lie, because I've said that I'd protect you before, but this time. but I will find him."  
  
"You promise me, Cloud?" she asked with a hopeful expression over her tired, sleepless face.  
  
"I do. I'll do everything I can for you." She leant her head on my shoulder and we gazed up into the starry night sky. Thousands of stars blinked mischievously down at us, signaling the coming danger. what did they mean? I wish now that I had picked up on their message, coming from so many miles away.  
  
"Well, I better get back to the hotel now," she said as she stood and straightened herself up, "They don't like me coming in too late."  
  
I stood up as well right next to her and looked down again into her beautiful face, now beaten in with hatred. "Alright, Aeris. But you take care of yourself, ok? I'm gonna get Sephiroth soon and I'll take good care of you and our baby." I looked again deeply into her face, but she didn't answer me. She just watched me, the same frantic fear from two and a half weeks ago still somewhat visible in her eyes. "You're gonna be a wonderful mother, Aeris."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
I leant in to kiss her soft, now pale lips and she just stood there. I hoped that I still had her love, but I really wasn't sure anymore. We bid our goodbyes, and from my villa's entrance, I watched her walk back to the inn. She was so weak now, so frail. I had taken something vital away from her, and she had no life left in her.  
  
We stood in silence for a minute, just letting the cool, tropical breeze blow from our hair. I didn't think of sad things at that point. All I could think about was our baby now and nothing else. There was a light at the end of the tunnel for us now, or so I thought. But, oh, how I wish I could've seen what terrible things the future had in store.  
  
"How you do wish, my dear Cloud," came a sinister voice from above my head. I looked up and there, standing right on my house's roof was the awful man that I so much hated.  
  
"SEPHIROTH!" my deep voice yelled through the silent town. But I couldn't do anything; he was too far.  
  
"Ha, ha!" he cackled wickedly, "Try as you might, you cannot get me!" he made an evil grin, that suggested evil intent. "You have a beautiful woman, you know."  
  
"You leave Aeris outta this," I screamed, "She's done nothing wrong and she doesn't deserve to be treated this way but such an ugly snake as you!"  
  
"Snake, eh? Hah, hah! I can assure you that she will be mine very soon and she will do everything I please for me. And she will never ever have your awful child."  
  
Now he was really pissing me off. "You don't dare talk about our baby like that! Now why don't you get down here and fight like a man, if you think you're so good!"  
  
"My, my! There's no reason to be angry. And don't take everything for granted, boy. You're going to have to start working a little harder nowadays."  
  
"What the hell are you saying?!" I yelled, "Quit playing games!"  
  
He spun his cape around himself and laughed maliciously once more. "I best be on my way, though. Take care of her. while she's around!" And with that, he disappeared into the dark night sky, farther away from my grasp. How I loathed him. that sly disgusting serpent.  
  
I vowed that I would protect Aeris. I vowed that she would never get hurt again. I vowed that I wouldn't let him have his way, but oh, how wrong I was. 


	10. Chapter 9

Yeah, the story's been different lately. I hope that that's not the reason for the lack of recent reviews, hmm? But thank you so much to those who've been reviewing. It really does make me write faster!! And if you don't like the darker atmosphere the story's been taken on, quit reading, cause it's  
only gonna get worse!  
  
Chapter 9  
  
"RRRING! RRRRING!"  
  
I woke up grumpily as I heard the phone ringing loudly in the living room. It was eleven o'clock, I probably should've been awake by then but I didn't care. I jumped up out of bed and ran to catch it before the answering machine, and arrived just in time.  
  
"Hello?" was my very unhappy answer.  
  
"Hello, Cloud." came Red's voice, "I hope that I didn't awaken you!"  
  
"Oh, no," I grumbled discontentedly, "Not at all. What's up, Red?"  
  
"I'm just calling to congratulate you, Cloud," he told me proudly.  
  
"Wha?!"  
  
"Aeris called me about some other things earlier today. She also informed me that you two are expecting a child. That's wonderful, Cloud!"  
  
"Oh, yeah!" I suddenly brightened up, remembering the good news of the yesterday, "Heh, yup!"  
  
"So are you two planning on, uh, getting married sometime soon?" the wise lion asked.  
  
"Oh, yes. marriage. Well, I would very much like to, though I don't know what exactly is on Aeris' mind right now. I don't know if proposing to her would be wise just yet."  
  
I felt as though Red was digesting my words before he spoke. "I think it would be a very wise decision. When Aeris telephoned me, I believe she had the initiative to become married soon. I think she was just worried about her safety and that of the baby."  
  
"What?" came spluttering out of my mouth unstoppably. How much had Aeris really told Red? Did he know the true story behind the baby's conception?  
  
I tried to cover up my worries by talking to Red, but being subtle about my goal. "So what all did Aeris say to you when you two spoke?" I ended up not being so sly.  
  
"Are you worried about something, Cloud?" he asked with a hint of concern. I suppose he picked up my emotion in my tone.  
  
"No," I lied, "I just wanted to know how she said stuff and, uh, how she was feeling by the way she said stuff."  
  
"Very well. She was just asking me what we could do to rid ourselves of Sephiroth once and for all, since she mentioned that you had some fears about him taking possession of you once more. I spoke to her about it and then later on she told me that she had some important news. I asked her about it and she informed me that she was going to have your child."  
  
"Just like that? That's all she said?"  
  
"In a nutshell, yes."  
  
I sighed thankfully to myself. "Oh, alright. She, uh, sounds like she's probably fine then."  
  
"Yes. She seems fine," Red agreed, sounding a little suspicious of my questioning, but he said nothing to indicate his skepticism in my honesty.  
  
"Alright. Well, thanks for calling, Red. Is there anything else you need?"  
  
"Yes, I believe the lot of us would be interested in seeing you and Aeris soon, if that would be possible."  
  
"Does everyone know about the baby?!" I asked, surprised.  
  
Red chuckled. "Don't fret now, Cloud. The others now know as well, yes, but everyone's absolutely delighted. Everyone knows but Tifa."  
  
I grew quiet for a moment, remembering the black haired girl that had once loved me. What ever had happened to her? Had she been continuing to aid the beast? Had she repented for serving Sephiroth? Or had she perhaps taken the sword to herself? I wasn't sure then, but if only I knew what was to come.  
  
"Has anyone spoken to Tifa lately?" I asked with concern.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not," replied Red, "It seems she's just. well, frankly, it seems she's just disappeared or something rather. We've tried contacting her, but she's nowhere to be found it seems. "  
  
"Hmmm," I considered Red's words carefully, "Well, it was nice hearing from ya, Red. But I best be going."  
  
"Oh and one more thing, Cloud! The lot of us will be dropping by later in the day if that's alright."  
  
"Yah, sure. And Red, I'd like to talk to you about what we could do to find Sephiroth when I see you."  
  
"Definitely. I'd be pleased to assist you in any way possible, Cloud!"  
  
"Thanks, Red! I'll see ya soon."  
  
"Take care."  
  
I hung up the phone and ran my fingers through my hair. I had to know what was wrong with Tifa. it was eating away at me, feeding off my every thought. I was afraid for her; afraid that the sweet girl I once knew had turned into something ugly, something hideous. Oh, Tifa! What had you become?  
  
I called Aeris up soon after and told her about my conversation with Red. She was glad that everyone knew and she was relieved that I hadn't told them the entire story. I knew that Red would've understood that it wasn't my fault and everything, but I was still feeling so ashamed of the awful things I had done. How I had killed Aeris, how I had destroyed her purity and that subtle something that shone through so very little now! I had killed the sweet innocent girl who could brighten up anyone's day and replaced her with a quiet jaded woman who cared so little about anything. And it was bad enough to have hurt someone so defenseless and delicate in the first place, who couldn't defend herself! Poor, poor Aeris.  
  
My seed was now planted and she was going to give life to a wonderful child. I was excited though I knew she was still scared. And I was scared for her. She was yet so fragile and small, I was afraid that this baby would take its toll on her body. But now with this child, the world would know that I loved Aeris, even if the baby was not necessarily the result of our affection for each other.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
The gang, everyone but Tifa, came to my villa at around one, that day. Aeris showed up as well and I think was a little nervous of what everyone had to say. But everyone was kind to her and showed no indecency in their comments and greetings. Everyone was very happy about the news, though still in shock, I think. Aeris also helped make some tea and coffee for the guests, though I hadn't asked her to help out at all. I think that even in her fragile health, she still enjoyed entertaining for company.  
  
"So, if I baby-sit this kid, will you guys pay me?" Came Yuffie's young, inquisitive voice.  
  
I chuckled and replied, "Sure, as long as you don't try stealing its soother or something!"  
  
"Hey." she said, pretending to be taken aback, ".how much do you suppose one of 'em's worth?"  
  
We all laughed and took sips from our drinks. We were happy to all be seeing each other again, sharing good news. Aeris would smile for the guests, though they knew so very little. But I could still see that those seemingly sweet, joyful smiles were too brief to be genuine, but Aeris didn't want to cloud the atmosphere.  
  
"Do you got any names picked out yet?" asked Cid gruffly.  
  
"Well, I haven't really discussed anything with Cloud," said Aeris, "But if it's a boy, I was thinking the name Sage would be nice."  
  
"And for a girl?" I asked contentedly.  
  
"Hmm, I was thinking maybe Emma."  
  
"Pffft!" exclaimed Cid, "If it's a boy, you're naming him Cid. If it's a girl, you're naming her Cidney."  
  
We all laughed at Cid's pride, but he merely looked around at us asking, "What?"  
  
The afternoon passed by full of talk and laughter. After a few hours, everyone but Aeris and me decided to go look around town. We stayed back and Aeris helped me clean up the little mess that our colleagues could never help but make.  
  
As we worked together silently, I thought about the beautiful names she had thought up for our child. Sage sounded wild, though the meaning spoke of a wise one. I liked it very much though. I could imagine our handsome boy growing older and bringing us great joy by doing well in school and being strong. I would one day teach him how to play soccer and wield a blade. He'd honor us greatly.  
  
Then I thought of the possibility of a little Emma. She'd be as delicate as her mother, though I doubt that anyone could be as beautiful. She'd be graceful and generous, always willing to help others. Aeris could teach her to sew and cook, things she herself excelled at. One day there'd be another man in her life, other than her father, and she'd leave us for him. But she'd be happy, and we would as well. I smiled freely at the wonderful future that I assumed awaited us.  
  
"I really like the names you picked out, sweetie," I told Aeris as she reached over to pick up a bottle from the ground. She looked up at me and managed a smile. Was she not happy? Her lips showed contentment, but her eyes showed the same unbroken sorrow.  
  
"Do you?" she said, "Did you have any others you had thought of yet?"  
  
"Not really, no. I like Sage and Emma. I think that they would very much suit our baby, if I may predict our child's personality."  
  
"Mmm." She smiled, but with little feeling, before going back to picking up the trash off the floor. I watched her a minute without starting up my own job. What was bothering her?  
  
"Aeris.?" I asked, causing her to look up inquisitively at me once more, "Is something bothering you?"  
  
She sighed. "No, no. I'm fine. I was just. Nah, it's alright."  
  
"No, c'mon. Tell me!"  
  
"Well. I guess I'm still a little worried about, you know. about Sephiroth coming through you again. You see, you exerted so much force, or I meant. he did last time. It really frightened me, Cloud, and I'm just still so scared I can't trust you."  
  
I looked into her eyes as I always did, wishing I had the right words to make her feel better and understand. Through those vast puddles of flowing green, Aeris lamented all her fears to me. I wanted so much to help her. So I walked over and put my arms around her. She cringed a little and moved away.  
  
"I'm sorry, Cloud." Tears came to her eyes, "I just don't know what to expect from you." Her voice trailed off and I just stared a minute.  
  
"It's ok," I told her, "You have reason to be afraid. I should know better. Excuse me a minute." I started off towards the bedroom, my mood suddenly heavy. I just needed to be alone. alone as I always was. Was that my destiny? To be alone for all eternity? I seemed to get along better when left alone, and things always seemed to go wrong when I tried to get close to someone. Perhaps I should just stay forever alone.  
  
I sat down on the bed in my room after shutting the door. I sunk my face into my enveloping hands and my mind absorbed everything that had been going on. I hoped so much that I wouldn't hurt Aeris. All I wanted to do was spend the rest of my life with her, talking to her, kissing her and showing her my love, but not at all in a harmful way as before. But nothing worked like it should have. ever.  
  
"Cloud."  
  
I heard a strange whisper.  
  
Perhaps it was just my imagination.  
  
"Cloud!"  
  
No, it couldn't be.  
  
I heard it again, sharper and more insistent.  
  
"Wh-who's there?" I whispered back. I wish I hadn't. Maybe I would've been left alone if I hadn't asked. But no, he came once more. that horrible, horrible man. Being the same coward as always though, he appeared to me in an unattainable way. He appeared translucent, so close to me, but yet so very far away. He cackled maliciously.  
  
"Hello, Cloud," he greeted coldly, "How have you been? It's been a while, hmm?"  
  
I looked at him incredulously. "I saw you yesterday, you moron. Now what do you want?"  
  
"Oh, my! No need to be unkind. I'm only here to warn you, dear boy. You wanted to see your friend Tifa again, did you not?"  
  
I jumped up out of the bed at mention of Tifa. "Where is she? What have you done to her to screw her up so bad?!"  
  
"Calm yourself! She'll be coming to visit you soon, so be expecting her. as well as some other things."  
  
"You're planning something, aren't you? But whatever you're doing, know this: you will NEVER be able to break the bond that Aeris and I have, you hear? NEVER!"  
  
"Hah, hah. you've already done something terrible to her, don't you think? How can she love you after you've robbed her of her purity? Just take a close look at her and you'll see how awful she looks, how sunken her eyes are. And you see I'll be killing two birds with one stone! While you two lose your bond, I'll regain power and come back to my former status. and higher! And then, Aeris will care little for you once your bond is broken, so little that she'll come to me for love, and love is what she'll receive!"  
  
"DO YOU THINK SHE'S THAT STUPID?!" I yelled, trying to hold myself back from attempting to rip the air his image occupied apart, "Aeris could never love you! She's too pure, too good for something as low and awful as you! She loves me. and she always will, Sephiroth. ALWAYS!"  
  
He sneered and made an ugly sarcastic chuckle. "That's what you think now! But you know so very little. Just wait, my boy. wait!"  
  
"Cloud, what's going on in there?" I heard Aeris' voice, "Are you alright?"  
  
Right as she pushed open the door, Sephiroth's image disappeared.  
  
"What happened?" she asked curiously.  
  
I opened my mouth, ready to tell her about my unwanted visitor, but when I saw her forever-worried face and those sunken eyes that the beast spoke of, I couldn't bother her with anything more. "I was just, uh, listening to the radio!"  
  
"Alright. Well, did you wanna go for a walk, Cloud? We should go look for the others. I think they think that they're staying overnight."  
  
"Sure thing, sugar."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
We walked and walked and walked, all around. We said nothing through the heat of the tropical city. I think that Aeris was aware of the fact that everyone was most likely at the beach, but she had taken me outside for different reasons.  
  
"What are we gonna do bout the whole situation with Sephiroth?" asked my beauty's somber voice.  
  
"I'm not sure yet. We'll talk to Red though, right?"  
  
"Fine. But what if there's nothing we can do?"  
  
"If not then, well. we'll kill Sephiroth, once and for all. Or perhaps we should just gradually drain him of his powers before killing him so that he wouldn't be able to retain anymore after death."  
  
"That sounds like a good idea." I saw no emotion in her distant face or heard any in her remote voice.  
  
"I want you to love me, Aeris," came spilling my own feelings, unexpectedly, "I really miss those few days when everything was going so well. Please. can't we return to that time?"  
  
"NO!" she snapped assertively. And I had never heard her be assertive. She was always very submissive to others. but she was bothered. "I-I'm sorry, Cloud. I'm still so worried. I can't help but fret over the whole situation though, yes, I wish we could return to the good old days. But. no. It just could never happen."  
  
"I see. But you know that we WILL fix things very soon. But anyway, you wanna go back to my place and have a couple of drinks or something?" I was trying to make the conversation more casual.  
  
"Um, I'm pregnant, Cloud," she said with a little laugh.  
  
"Oh! That's right!! Ok, ok! Well, you can have some tea or something then."  
  
She smiled, but this time there was a little more hope in her eyes. "I'd like that."  
  
We walked up the same old stone steps that she so often looked at so strangely, up to my villa. While just standing there looking at each other, we heard Cait Sith's voice from below. He was walking hurriedly towards the house from afar and was accompanied by the rest of the gang.  
  
"Hey guys! I finally found everyone. Is dinner ready yet? I'm starved!" Due to the distance between him and us, he had to shout loudly so we could hear him, which also resulted in everyone else in town staring at us awkwardly.  
  
"Ok." I told him, much more quietly. He and the others were still a good distance away, but approaching quickly and I wanted to speak to Aeris.  
  
"Aeris," I started, "I hope that having these guys around won't tire you out. And remember, you don't gotta help clean up or cook or anything. Just take it easy for a while, k?"  
  
"I dunno," she replied, "I'd feel kinda bad not helping out, just because I'm pregnant. That's really not much of an excuse, you know? And anyhow, I don't really mind cleaning up and I definitely don't mind cooking. Actually, with cooking, it's sort o therapeutic sometimes. I've been it all my life so." And on she went. From afar I saw the herd of ex-AVANLANCHERS approaching, and right in front of me, Aeris was blabbering on and on. I was trying to concentrate on what she said, but something else was stabbing into my side, ripping its way through and interrogating into my mind.  
  
No, no, NO! I thought. It was happening again. but how? HOW? I had even been trying harder to keep my guard up! No, no, no!  
  
"Shuddup, cunt!" I yelled viciously at Aeris, before giving her a hard slap to the cheek.  
  
"No, Cloud, NO!" she screamed frantically.  
  
"What's going on over there?" I heard Red's distant voice through my troubled thoughts. Everyone was looking at us. The gang started running faster to where we were, but they were still so far.  
  
My aggressive hands took Aeris forcefully by her small shoulders and shook her savagely. We stood just over those suspicious stone steps.  
  
"You know you're a whore, girl! You know that it's your own fault that you're going to have that monster of a baby! You don't deserve much better. You DO deserve to DIE!"  
  
"Please don't, Cloud!" she was screaming, tears suddenly streaming down her face, "Please, no! The baby! The baby!"  
  
I felt my lips crinkle into a tight atrocious grin as she tried to escape my close clutch. My eyes narrowed and malice was creeping its way into the master plan to destroy us. "Say goodbye to your pretty little BOND, bitch!"  
  
Aeris let out a scream as I pushed her down the stairs hard and so very ruthlessly. The poor thing tumbled and tumbled and tumbled, not being able to stop. Everyone in the town was now outside looking at us it seemed, our friends on quick foot to try to save Aeris.I wanted to help her, though, more than I wanted to be alive. But all I could do was cackle in that evil, evil laugh. She finally hit the bottom of the stairs and lay motionless. Blood was everywhere. Absolutely everywhere.  
  
I could barely see the others, since my head was upwards, but I knew that they had almost reached where we were. They must have been so scared! And there I was, laughing hysterically at something that was definitely ANYTHING but funny. But now I was angrier than ever, much, much angrier. And that anger must have been what propelled me to break lose. I shot my way through and came into possession of my OWN body. It all happened so fast and I understand little. But soon I just found myself running down the stairs to where Aeris was, but this time, it was out of my own will.  
  
"Oh, SHIT!!" I yelled as I scooped her up into my arms. The others arrived just after me and gasped in horror at Aeris, who lied limply in my arms, bleeding from everywhere. I saw her lips open slowly, trying to talk to me, but little sound came out.  
  
"What have you done, FOO?!" yelled Barret, who didn't understand anything about what was going on, "She could be dead, you liddle punk!"  
  
"It wasn't me. it wasn't me!" I'm ashamed to say it, but tears were indeed welling up in my eyes then. I was crying at the horrible things that I couldn't help. Why? WHY was it me?!  
  
"C-Cloud." came Aeris' weak voice, "The baby. my poor baby."  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Yuffie screamed at me, accusingly, "You killed your own BABY!!"  
  
Everyone was yelling at me, but all I could do was hold my precious darling in my arms. I thought quickly of Tifa, who was supposed to be here soon according to Sephiroth, but then quickly forgot about her as my mind went back to my love. I felt her recently cold eyes watching us anyway. she was there with us. somewhere.  
  
I looked down onto Aeris and with quit letting myself be stupid by not doing anything. "Somebody call an ambulance!! Now!! Somebody, please!"  
  
I heard everyone and my own thoughts, as well, screaming at me, accusing me. But I had done nothing. And through all the noise, I hear Aeris whimpering softly, her pleas for help only apparent in her tone, since nothing else that she said was decipherable.  
  
"Don't worry, baby," I told her, "You. yes you will be okay."  
  
She managed to get some more words out, though it was painful. "B-but. my baby. I lost my baby!" And through her painful speech, she started crying, just like before she had been thrown down the stairs so horrifically. And she repeated the few words she could as the world around me drained the life from my soul.  
  
"My baby. I lost my baby."  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
A/N: Hey, y'all! Sorry that took so long. I've been very busy with gay ass homework and stuff. I hope you're liking the story, cause I'm gonna try and rap everything up soon. I hope the twists in the story were unexpected! Please review with your critique. I'd greatly appreciate it! 


	11. Chapter 10

Well, the story's gonna be over soon I think. *sob sob* My first ficcy's almost over! Anyway, I'm really sorry about how long it took for me to update last time. heh, it's school's fault! Blame my ugly French teacher, O'Flamer! (No, that's not his real name, but it sure describes him well.) And oh yeah! There's gonna be some swearing in this chappie. Duh duh duh!  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"Good job, boy."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
I was thinking very little. I was in the same old dark chamber as in the past. I heard the same clinking of footsteps come nearer to me. I knew that ugly, horrible man was there, though I could see nothing. I didn't want to have to deal with his cruel words and discouraging comments. I didn't want to know what he had to say.  
  
"For helping me, I'll let you see your friend soon. She'll be visiting, so stay around and wait for her."  
  
"I don't care." And I didn't.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha! You're too weak for the Cetra though, you know! She really deserves a real man to take care of her."  
  
"Shut up and go away."  
  
My voice was calm and stern.  
  
"I'm glad that your atrocious SPAWN will not be surviving as well."  
  
"Shut up, ugly bastard."  
  
"You didn't really think that that child, if you will, would be suitable to the world, did you? Your seed is nothing that should be seen or reproduced. That would result in world failure, for goodness sake! A weak man like you shouldn't even be allowed to make love to a beautiful woman like that Ancient. Ha, ha, ha!"  
  
"Fuck off."  
  
"Oh, my! Getting a little hostile now, aren't we? But just remember, even if your child had been born, I would never have let it survive. I would've killed it the moment it had parted from its mother's womb!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" I stood up quickly and completely angrily, ready to kill that mother *#$%^#! bastard. I hated him so much; so, so much. But just as I stood, ready to pummel him to death, my dark, dreary and musty surroundings suddenly disappeared.  
  
I woke up from horribly dreamful slumber, in an uncomfortable chair with woven cushions. I've always hated that kind of chairs. Upholstered, made of some cheap, hard wood, you could never sit or rest comfortably in them. They were typical waiting room chairs, the kind NO ONE likes. I awoke with twisted muscles and a twisted heart, remembering the even worse suffering my darling was going through. I wanted to kill Sephiroth so bad.  
  
"Hey!" I called to one of the nurses who was passing by, "When the hell will I be able to go in and visit my girlfriend?" I'd been waiting around for hours and still they wouldn't let me in to see Aeris. I had even fallen asleep, since night had started to fall. I needed to know what was happening to Aeris so badly though.  
  
"Please, sir," she whispered, as not to draw attention to the scene I was creating, "Don't cause a disturbance for the other people in here. You'll be able to see the lady in a little while."  
  
"Quit telling me that!" I shot back fiercely, "I've been waiting here for five friggin' hours! WHEN CAN I GO IN?!"  
  
"PLEASE, sir!" she said louder, a little fearful of my anger, "You're disturbing the other people. Your girlfriend is not well, so it will be a little while until you can go in and see her."  
  
I'd had it with the ignorant nurses in that hospital, making me wait around forever, though I needed to see Aeris so badly and find out how she was.  
  
"That's it!" I yelled as I pushed my way past the nurse and I went over to the room where I had seen them take Aeris. It was a small hospital with only a few corridors, so I could easily find my way around.  
  
I kept on running, even as I heard the nurses and secretaries behind me yelling to stop. But they didn't understand. It was just their "job" to tell everyone to do what they said and keep them away from their loved ones. But that nurse probably just didn't understand that my beautiful darling was in there, perhaps dying. And perhaps our baby wasn't making it. Perhaps the baby already died. Perhaps it was all over.  
  
No nurses, doctors, or guys from security followed though. They all just shouted after me, telling me to stay out, and that was fine. They weren't bothering me too much. Just ran and ran until I came to when Aeris was. I made the door fly open as I burst into her small, sterile room.  
  
"Aeris!" I called quietly to her, rather exasperatedly. I walked over to where she lay in the hospital bed, helpless and almost hopeless. Her eyes were closed. I sat down on the bed right next to her and took her limp hand in my fierce, angry one that was now gentle for her sake.  
  
"C-Cloud?" she asked with all her power as she opened her eyes slightly.  
  
"Hey, baby," I said, I looking down onto her sad expression, "How you feeling?"  
  
"I guess I'm okay," she responded, trying to reassure me, though I knew she wasn't fine.  
  
I felt so terrible at that point in time. Here, my poor Aeris was lying on a hospital bed, her eyes wet with tears of emotional and physical pain, her face now bruised and cut, while I just sat there, feeling sorry for myself, for the world. And what had become of our baby I could only guess."Sweetie," I started slowly, "What happened to the baby?"  
  
Aeris grew very quiet for a moment, before speaking slowly, "I-I don't know. They wouldn't tell me."  
  
"Oh, SHIT!" I yelled, forgetting that Aeris needed her rest.  
  
"Please, Cloud," she cooed softly with distress, "Don't yell."  
  
"Fuck, Aeris!" I said angrily with scorn for both myself and for Sephiroth, remembering the horror of what I knew I had lost, "I've had enough of all this bull shit! I want those stupid nurses to just tell me what's going on!"  
  
Aeris looked at me with fear and sadness. "Cloud, you're frightening me. Please!"  
  
"What's going on in here?!" It was one of those damn nurses, coming in to bother us. She looked like a strict, cold woman, with an uncompromisingly tight jaw. Her hair was pinned back severely into a grey bun and she narrowed her eyes when she looked at me. "Young man, the lady needs her rest! And she certainly doesn't need all that yelling and ruckus. Now, please, get out!!"  
  
"I'm not leaving until you tell us both what's going on!" I yelled straight back at her, not caring one bit if my behavior was "upsetting."  
  
"Please leave!" she ordered, though I did not do as told.  
  
"Not until you tell me everything!"  
  
"Leave!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Leave!"  
  
"NO!  
  
"Leave!"  
  
"STOP IT, please!" screamed Aeris, once again with warm tears running the same, well-known course of her cheeks. She had been hurt so much by me and by this awful world and I suppose she could take no more. So she spoke to us with what little strength she had left, "Please, don't fight! Pleas nurse, just tell me what's happening to me. Am I.am I going to make it?"  
  
"Yes, yes, of course, girl! You'll be out of here in a few days at the most, though you'll have to take it easy for a while at home."  
  
Thank you, God! I thought to myself so gratefully, almost forgetting what else I could have lost.  
  
"And?" asked Aeris nervously, as I saw tears starting to brim in her eyes. She was scared.  
  
"And what?" asked the nurse sharply, feeling as though she had finished her job and that there was nothing more to be said.  
  
"And what about my baby?" Aeris was now doing her best to sit up in bed, as I helped her as well. She always managed to become as weak and ill; it broke my heart. She was looking so intently at that awful nurse, her next few emotions dependant on the old bat's jaded words.  
  
"The baby?" the nurse said slowly, deciding to keep our tension at its peak. We all sat there, waiting for her reply, though she took her time in answering. I could hear Aeris' breathing become unusually heavy and fast. I crept my hand through the covers on the bed so that it was again holding my angel's. My grip on her was tight, and though I soon realized that I was hurting her. She was so fragile, after all! We were both so afraid of what was to come next, but we knew the information was vital.  
  
The nurse just kept on doddling though, as she would look back and forth from Aeris sympathetically, then to me with a discriminating, smug grimace. She'd open her lips to get the adrenaline in our veins pumping yet faster, but would then quickly close them when she couldn't find the right words.  
  
"Just say it, won't you!" I spat out quickly.  
  
She gave me a sharp, disrespectful look before sticking her nose up arrogantly. "Very well," she sighed hopelessly, "I don't know how to tell you this but."  
  
I felt Aeris squeeze my hand tighter, as tight as her now weak arms could go, her palms wet with nervous perspiration. I had been so happy before. There was something new to look forward to! I could turn that whole negative situation into something beautiful, something fresh and pure. I had a reason to live again and things seemed bright  
  
But now I had crushed that dream, that dream that might not even be fulfilled later on if things went on like this. How would Aeris ever be able to forgive me after all this? First, I had cast away her virgin purity, the beautiful untouched way she had been before, by raping her carelessly and so, so harmfully. I had planted my seed in her womb and although it was something miraculous, it was to give us yet more grief if matters were as we expected.  
  
"Your baby is dead."  
  
Aeris screamed.  
  
She fell against me and cried.  
  
I gathered my darling up into my arms. She sobbed quietly against my side as I stroked her hair lovingly. I kissed her head and I felt tears welling up in the corners of my eyes too. Everything was shattered. Shattered to pieces. All hope was gone. All we had left now was each other, and I was even weary of myself nowadays.  
  
Our bond was slipping far, far away too. It reminded me of when I was a young boy, sitting in elementary school in one of my classes. The teacher was explaining to us how to thread the eye of the needle. It looked so simple and for a moment, just a fleeting moment, I imagined doing something right and the other students looking at me with more respect. I had a short high on that excitement, thinking that I, Cloud Strife, would be worthwhile, just for a moment.  
  
But after the teacher had finished explaining, after we had been given our needle and thread, I learned that I was wrong, so very wrong. The other students, mostly the girls, slid that thread so simply and leisurely through the needle. And I had tried, oh I had! But that needle just kept slipping from my fingers, over and over again. But long after everyone else had started sewing messy stitches onto their scrap pieces of material, I was still working hard at threading my damn needle. Eventually, everyone just did as they always had and just stared at me and laughed. I was the loner, always somehow different. The others mocked me even for something so small as this, something I had wished to excel in, since it should have been so simple.  
  
Now, I felt the same way. I couldn't do anything right. I couldn't even take care of my sweet, sweet angel, or better yet, even keep myself from destroying her.  
  
I held Aeris tighter and she cried, now and the saying some sad, sad words.  
  
"I'm sorry for your loss," were the words I heard from the stern old nurse, "Good day." And with that, I heard her footsteps trail away as I was left with a fallen princess.  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
Three days passed by even slower than they had before and I was still living far from hope. Aeris was out of the hospital and staying in the hotel where the others from AVALANCHE were also staying to help out. I was glad that they were so considerate for her, though I had a feeling that they held something against me. I'd talk to them and they'd merely look at me suspiciously and answer my questions to the bare minimal. They'd try to avoid any sort of conversation and would act distant and give me dirty looks. They all took their time with Aeris, however.  
  
I'd spend my days sitting next to my love, in the company of suspicious others of course though, as she'd sit and stare blankly out of the window. Other times we'd go for walks, though she'd never say a word. Or sometimes she'd just get out without saying a word and leave and come back hours later. She'd been hurt so badly by me, that I wasn't surprised when she'd never answer me when I'd speak to her. I'd hold her or gently touch her cheek, but she made no sign that she noticed, or even cared. Life seemed so empty and meaningless, so full of despair. I felt that I didn't deserve to be alive, and I really didn't much want to be either.  
  
My nights would be equally as depressing, as I'd go home and soak up my troubles in booze. I'd lie around on the couch and let my much needed tears spill from my eyes. I was all alone in a world that hated me.  
  
On the fifth day however, things got mixed up a little bit. Actually, things got changed a lot. As I was walking home from the hotel late into the evening, the sun had already gone set and the shadows were all about the small town, lurking and quivering in the dim moonlight that was cast upon me as so to expose my criminal figure to the world. I quickly raced back to my villa, perhaps afraid of the unknown that watched me silently from afar. But just as I reached my door, I heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Did you miss me?"  
  
I snapped my head back to see who it was, though my ears already knew.  
  
"Tifa!" I gasped with great surprise.  
  
She was wearing the same skanky outfit as usual and had her hair pinned up messily. She looked tired and weary from travel, but still managed to look sharply into my cold blue eyes with her big brown ones, which were now narrowed evilly.  
  
"Where have you been?" I asked her in an icy tone.  
  
She kept on eyeing me with such hatred apparent in her fixed gaze.  
  
"My life doesn't revolve around seeing YOU, boy!" she shot back at me.  
  
She was acting so odd..she definitely wasn't the same girl as before. I looked at her with concern and softened my stare. "What's really going on, Tifa?" I asked worriedly, "Why have you taken Sephiroth's side? Don't you remember what he did to us all? To your FATHER?!"  
  
She turned around a little, so I couldn't see her face. "You wouldn't understand, Cloud," came her suddenly tearful response, "You never did.."  
  
I walked closer to her and went to put my hand on her shoulder, but she moved away at the least bit of my touch.  
  
"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed as she turned to look at me, the tears now filling her eyes, "You were always the problem, you know that?"  
  
"Tifa..Just say what's on your mind, please! Are you jealous of Aeris? Do you really just want the spotlight on you? Is that it?" I was getting frustrated with her. I just wanted her to be the same, nice girl as she had been once long ago...  
  
"Just leave me alone," she cried out at me as she turned away, so that her face was out of sight once more, "I cannot see you now. But believe me, I WILL be back. And revenge WILL be mine!" With that, she quickly dropped something in small package that exploded abruptly, leaving a thick cloud of smoke, so that I couldn't see where she left. Once the smoke had faded, Tifa was nowhere to be found..  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
I awoke the next day, not caring if I was breathing, or if blood was draining from my body, or if I was even alive..but unfortunately, all these things were not problems, and I was indeed surviving.  
  
As I had every morning for the past year or so of my life, I awoke and thought of my precious Aeris. But unlike in the past days, I woke up thinking such sad thoughts about her, knowing how awful of a state she was in. But today, I didn't want to see her. Today, I didn't want to see myself. Today, I didn't want to see the world. And this was enough to make me do something.  
  
As life consciousness came thrusting itself towards me, shredding my slumber into reality, I closed my eyes and tried to wish it away. But it wouldn't leave me. And I knew that there was only one way out. Aeris didn't need me anymore. It was all just a waste now.  
  
I got up out of bed and walked over to a blank wall. I stared at it. I looked deeply onto its smooth surface. I touched it and gently moved my hand up and down on it. It would be the last time I'd be around these walls, this home that had kept me safe, but had destroyed another.  
  
I patted the wall one last time and walked over to where my faithful old Buster Sword was. It was on a shelf in a closet, just where I had last left her. I blew the bits of dust off of it and ran my hand along its smooth side. Ah, how beautiful she was! Though there was one thing that shattered the beauty: it was my reflection that was being shown off on the shiny blade. I just wanted to take that small part of it and twist it around, mangle that murderer's face and beat it to the ground! But alas! That murderer was me..I had already ruined the world though. Aeris hated me. Tifa hated me. All of AVALANCHE hated me. Most of all, I hated me.  
  
That's what made me pick up that sword and look at it closely once more. My ears heard a knock at the door. My heart heard the unenlightened, harsh words that were most likely to come from Visitor-X's mouth. I ignored answering the door completely. But the knocking did not cease. Then, as I continued to ignore it, I heard a voice, a voice so beautiful that made me almost decide to quit what I was doing..it was the voice of the girl I loved. And that voice even almost stopped me from doing what I was about to do.  
  
"Cloud," came her soft voice, through the wooden door, "Cloud, open up! I know you're home.."  
  
She was persistent and kept knocking and calling to me. It was the first time I'd heard her voice in a good while, and though it had lost its spirit, I could still feel Aeris soft and gentle soul coming through it.  
  
"Please!" she called to me sweetly, "I need to talk to you! Please!" And how I wanted to just throw my trusty old sword aside and run over to the door, open it and cradle her in my arms. But I couldn't. And hearing her voice, and remembering how it used to be, reminded me of how much I had taken away from her: her purity, her dignity, her child. And I couldn't risk her life again with my weak spirit..I just couldn't let her inside the house.  
  
I heard some more voices outside. It was the rest of the gang. I could hear Barret above everyone else, asking Aeris where she had gone. "YO, girl!" he yelled to her, but not unkindly, "Where didja go, huh? We was worried boutcha!!"  
  
"What are you doing here at Cloud's, anyway?" asked Vincent, his question being one of the first things I had heard out of him in a while.  
  
"I came to see him.." she whispered quietly, "Please.do something. He's not answering the door!" If they broke through, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make things right.  
  
By doing what I was going to do I would keep the Bond from breaking entirely, even though weakened through death, save Aeris from any harm and just pretty much rid the world of my existence. I didn't want to be alive anymore anyway. I was just wasting my days through and through and I had had enough of it. There was no more reason to be living.  
  
I could still here everyone outside talking, though I didn't listen to their words. Instead, I concentrated on my actions. I held the sword out in front of me, both hands on the grip, as I thought a few of my last thoughts..would Barret be angry? Would Cid put out his cigarette to come to my funeral? Would Yuffie steal the remaining money on my dead body? Would Cait Sith come see me in person? Would Red howl at the moon mournfully? Would Vincent bow his head respectfully at my grave? Would Tifa care in the least? And most of all, would Aeris still love me the way she once had?  
  
These things didn't really matter much. All that did matter was that the whole damn Bond thing would be alright, and that I wouldn't be harming anyone anymore. I didn't care. I really didn't care. I could hear Barret and the others pounding on the door now.  
  
"OPEN THE HELL UP, CLOUD!" yelled Cid. I could hear sobs from Aeris. She seemed so damn frail these days. I wanted to save her from it all and just show her that I wasn't a bad guy, but it was too late. And I knew that I would never find Sephiroth and stop him from taking me over, again and again. It was all too late. And I just wasn't strong enough to take it all on. I wanted to be good enough for Aeris, to take care of her and save her from that beast of a man who was doing everything possible to harm her and have her for himself. I wasn't half the man Aeris had expected me to be.  
  
"Cloud..Please!" I heard Aeris sobbing from behind the lock door.  
  
"That's it!" I heard Barret yell. What were they doing? Dammit! They were going to break down the door!!! My plans, which only I understood, would be ruined. I had to save the Bond, for it would only weaken if I stayed alive and kept on hurting Aeris. I had to quit hurting her to. I had already done enough damage. Our poor baby was dead and with it had gone Aeris' sweet soul.  
  
But I couldn't let them come in and stop me. It was too late. I was too tired. My mind was spinning. My stomach was queasy. My heart was racing. My spirit was urging me on. And with that, I held the sword with more grip, straight out in front of me. I could see my reflection in the blade.  
  
I hate you! I thought as I saw myself. I wanted to destroy myself now more than ever. Time almost beat me though. Barret and Cid almost had the door broken down. I could see it out of the corner of my eye, bulging harshly from its hinges wildly as the two big guys shoved all their weight against it. But it was faithful to me, not falling till the very end.  
  
This is it, I thought, perhaps a little fearful. What I was to do next was to forever change everything..  
  
I plunged that daring blade straight into my stomach. Pain was my first instinct, as it made its way straight from my stomach, spreading all over. My mouth grew wide in surprise as I fell onto the floor, right on my back. The sword was still impaling and I wasn't about to take it out. I was glad that I was in pain. I deserved every second of it..  
  
I heard the door finally break and fall down. I could just barely see the whole lot of AVALANCHE run through the opening, Aeris right at the front. I heard her scream shrilly as she laid her eyes upon me.  
  
"NO!!" she screamed, tears evident in her voice. Little did she know, I was doing her a big favor. "CLOUD!!!" I turned my head to see her running towards me. She was wearing a cute pink dress that would have made her look beautiful if she hadn't had all those sad tears streaming down her face. Her hair was out long, flowing behind her elegantly. Time slowed down as I saw her coming towards me. Even as I lay, blood running out of me and pain enveloping my entire self, I desired her so, so much. I wanted to show her what I could do for her...how I had failed her, that poor beautiful creature that had had one of the worst lives out there.  
  
"What the hell've you done, foo?!" screamed Barret, as he caught that gorgeous girl up in his tough arms, one of them but a huge gun. I opened my mouth to speak, to defend my actions, but only bloody came spilling out. At this disgusting sight, I saw Aeris cup her mouth with her hand frantically and sob loudly. She struggled from Barret and he allowed her to run from him. She dashed hurriedly to my side and took my strong hand in her small, delicate one. She kissed it and touched it to her face.  
  
"What have you done?" she sobbed, her heart full of despair.  
  
I opened my mouth again, determined to speak to her. Everyone else just watched from a distance, tears building up in their own eyes, it seemed. It was hard to speak, but I managed to get out what was needed. "I'm..saving us.. the Bond would die."  
  
"No, NO!" she screamed, not letting herself hear what I was saying, "The Bond won't survive NOW!! How am I supposed to live without you?" She broke down in sobs as she leant in against my chest, beating it with her little fist.  
  
"It was bound to happen," I heard Red XIII comment, "He was breaking down so much."  
  
"Poor guy.." was all Vincent said, though it was plenty enough to know he cared.  
  
"Not Cloud!" cried Yuffie, "Who's gonna tell us what to do now and know what to do?!"  
  
"Idiot boy!" Barret muttered, tears welling up in his eyes, "Spiky white ass don't know nothing!"  
  
"Damn thing," said Cid under his breath, "He's destroyed more than he understood."  
  
"You've been a good friend, old bud," said Cait Sith, wiping his dry, mechanical face with his big arm.  
  
Aeris just looked down at me, her face red and frightened from crying. I could still see those bruises there from a little while ago. I had left permanent scars on her, emotional and physical. "Tifa spoke to me," she whispered as if nothing were happening, "She wants you to know she loves you."  
  
I was silent for a moment, but urged myself to bring forth more words. "But I don't..don't love her..I love you." She tried to keep from crying again, but deep gulps sounded from her throat and the tears came spilling out again.  
  
"Why, Cloud, WHY?!" she screamed at me, hateful for what I'd done, "What am I supposed to do about Sephiroth? And what about the damn Bond? And just tell me, how the hell am I supposed to live without you?! HOW?! You're all I have LEFT!" She buried her tearful face in my chest again and cried deeply, sorrow filling my body, but not yet able to beat out the pain.  
  
I started to cough. Blood came out again, some of it falling onto Aeris' pretty pink dress, though she didn't care. Nothing seemed to matter to her. She continued to cry as she was still holding my hand, her grip now tight and seemingly vengeful. The mood around me was definitely tense, but I, in as much pain as I was in, still felt so calm..  
  
"I love you, Cloud. I love you so bloody much you could never understand. I needed you! Now I'll never be able to marry and have children and lead a normal life..I need YOU!"  
  
I looked over to her, and with all my strength I lifted up my free hand and stroked her soft hair tenderly. She smelt lovely, like new blossoms. My stroking seemed to calm her a little and she looked up. "Oh, Cloud..please, Cloud, please..  
  
"How am I supposed to live without you?"  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~  
  
A/N: Oh MAN! I am so sorry I took so long to update!!! Damn schoolwork.. Grrr. well just the epilogue left. I hope y'all have been enjoying so far!! 


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
I am surrounded by people who love me, yet I am alone. They see not past my steely eyes and cold exterior. They know not what I am feeling, what I am thinking, how I am hurting. They do not know how much I love her..  
  
Now you understand why I lie. Why I am in pain. Why it all flows from me. The lifeblood is draining from the large wound in my stomach. Slowly but surely. I don't want anyone to help me. I want to suffer, to receive what I deserve for hurting my dear, dear love.  
  
She is kissing me now. She lays a light, dainty kiss with her soft lips against my own chapped ones. She touches my face with her hand gently and strokes it along my cheek. She continues to hold my hand, her grip now softening as she calms herself. I hunger for her, even in my last moments..  
  
Out of the corner of my eye, I see that black-haired girl enter. She looks over at me, and she is crying now as well, screaming words that are indecipherable to my ears. I have an effect on everyone it seems. People do care.  
  
My body pleads for release. This pain is overwhelming. My angel's sweet, soft voice is now fading, as does the life from my body. She is in pain too, but with mine she can be saved. Blood is trickling out of me. I wish it all away as the world is now but a blur in my eyes.  
  
My darling is by my side. I hope she understands, my poor, poor, darling. That angel of mine has done so much, though she could never be properly thanked, her actions going to waste. Her heart, I know, is heavy. She's never been able to lead a happy life, since her was always filled with anguish. That's why she's always been in the dark.  
  
My Angel in the Dark.  
  
THE END  
  
~~~~~**********~~~~~ A/N: Hmm, how was it? It's ALLLLLLL over now! I know that the plot was definitely not amazing or anything, but I hope that you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm very sorry for taking so long to update some times. heh. But please review, review, review!! It'll be greatly appreciated!! And please be kind, considering that this IS my first fanfic!! Thanks and bye bye for now! ~India 


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